Elements

As a practice, Stiff+Trevillion enjoy working with ceramic or clay products, we like the human scale of the brick, the surface quality of glaze and the modularity of tessellation. After all, bricks and tiles have been a consistent feature of the built environment for around 9000 years (it is suggested that is even 20,000 years ago in China). Indeed, terra cotta has defined the aesthetic of the European architectural tradition since the Roman empire.

When Sam Frith of Solus Ceramics suggested that we think about an installation for their Clerkenwell showroom that explored this material we were eager to participate. Florim had agreed to sponsor the project, a company we have used a lot over the years. For inspiration and to kick the project off we arranged a site visit to their factory near Modena, thankfully without any pre-conceived ideas.

Florim are a major player in the European porcelain tile market, they produce 24 million sqm of ceramic product per annum, they are also a B Corp. There is a view that the energy expended in the firing process makes ceramics particularly bad for the environment, so we wondered how Florim could achieve this accreditation.

The technology of modern kilns has moved on significantly in recent years, they are no longer gas fired but all-electric, and Florim now generate a large proportion of the power they need on site and top it up with green electricity. Water used in the manufacturing process is recycled, and waste unfired clay is ground up and reused.

The modern manufacturing process is a hi-tech version of a process that is thousands of years old, mixing earth with water, air drying it and baking it with fire. In every sense, the process combines the four Aristotelian Classical Elements – fire, air, earth and water.

Porcelain has been made for 1400 years, it was brought to Europe by Marco Polo but it was not until the mid-18^th century that the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger discovered the secret of making the “white gold” in Europe.

Porcelain is a mix of Kaolite, Feldspar and clay, strong, brittle and stable it can be made in thin large tiles up to a 1.6 x 3.2m format.

Two ideas emerged that would showcase how the material is made and the diverse ways it can be used:

• The circular economy of the manufacturing process.
• The Aristotelian elements that come together to create this remarkable material

Our installation re-imagines the circular economy of the Florim manufacturing process as a metaphorical Rain Cycle. The piece is manufactured from three different Florim products, it aims to showcase the different ways the material can be utilised:

• The plinth is made from solid terra cotta coloured laser cut fins that work structurally in compression to support a horizontal porcelain basin
• Because Porcelain impervious it can be used to form basins, shower trays or cladding.

• Porcelain, like glass can be used as an induction surface, heat can transfer through it to boil a pan of water for example.

• A suspended horizontal plane of the material is chilled so that the steam that rises condenses and drips back into the basin below.
  

The final design was modified to accommodate the site conditions, however the resultant cloud of moisture and water droplets demonstrate the rain cycle and showcase the versatility of this unique and we believe sustainable material.