Ola!
This is the fourth KBDi Designers’ International Tour I’ve done and I never quite know what is going to happen each time we set out. But let me tell you, those who missed out by not being here, did so in a big way.
Not only am I excited to be visiting Interzum again but, the opportunity to revisit the south of Spain (after 35 years absence) was not going to be missed. With relatively-new KBDi Diamond partner Cosentino sponsoring the entire 2013 KBDi Tour, I am happy to report we have immersed ourselves in the local traditions and culture, exceptional weather and hospitality you rarely experience, but often read about.
The Cosentino Group (based in south eastern Spain) is an organisation steeped in tradition and innovation. Our tour guide Jan, (employed by Cosentino to introduce 1800 visitors per year to the business and its surroundings) suggested, among many other things, we buy a book by Washington Irving, a US diplomat from the early 1800s, called “Tales of the Alhambra” to further understand the area, it’s importance as a region and its people. Alhambra Palace in Granada is a stunning piece of architecture and represents the minds and spirit of over 1400 years of input by so many cultures, religions and individuals.
To understand this part of the world Irving, in his opening chapter, writes ” The ancient kingdom of Granada, into which we are about to penetrate, is one of the most mountainous regions in Spain. Vast sierras or chains of mountains, destitute of shrub or tree and mottled with variegated marbles and granites, elevate their sunburnt summits against a deep blue sky, yet in their rugged bosoms lie engulfed the most verdant and fertile valleys, where the desert and the garden strain for mastery, and the very rock is, as it were, compelled to yield the fig, the orange and the citron, and to blossom with the myrtle and the rose.”
I quote that at length because the whole region is littered with small businesses, many of them specialising in one industry (stone) and staying the same size for many years. This was also Cosentino’s story for many years. It’s because the company diversified into using the waste they produced and then into creating reconstituted stone, the business now occupies more than 1 million square meters of buildings in this one location in Almeria.
Señore Paco Cosentino, (aka El Presidente) says that Cosentino is a proud Spanish company that will always welcome the thoughts and voices of designers from around the world. He listened intently to some of the country’s foremost and leading kitchen and bathroom designers and welcomed the visit made by this Australian contingent.
Cosentino has, in a very short time, made a huge impact on the Australian marketplace. And some of the new products, such as the new Dekton surface (due for release later this year), will only enhance its position not only at home but world wide. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of reconstituted stone and my guess is they will hold that title in Australia in the very near future.
We pack up today for our journey to Cologne so our next post will be from Interzum. While I’m excited to see what’s on display I’m not sure I’m ready to leave our stunning 25-27 degree days for the tops of 14 degrees expected in Germany. But we’ll rug up and soldier on. Next stop….Cologne!
