The clever folk at Bisazza have taken and ancient technology and fused it with 21st century beauty to create their latest masterpiece, Frozen Garden.
The Frozen Garden collection of relief ceramic tiles was first launched at the iconic Milan interior design expo CERSAIE, in 2014. Designed by the astonishingly versatile and internationally respected Dutchman Marcel Wanders, the new range really created a landmark in ceramic wall cladding. A clever, bold combination of hexagonal tiles, geometric patterns and simple, modern flower details, plus the tactile, three-dimensional shapes, conjured a collective gasp of admiration from the interior design community.
In many ways, Frozen Garden is an experiential ceramic design – you need to see and feel it, and watch the light flow around the tiles to fully appreciate its impact. This is why the collection launched with just two colour options – pure white and a rich, glossy black – enabling designers and their clients to truly enjoy the form.
Though for Bisazza and Marcel, there was yet another sensory level still to extract from this collection, which has at last launched for 2016 with the release of Platinum and Gold Frozen Garden.
To create the shimmering, perfect beauty that 24k gold and platinum coatings bring to this iconic collection, Bisazza has revived the 200 year old process of Lustreware production. Pioneered by master ceramicist John Hancock in 1800 for Spode, and adopted a few years later by Josiah Wedgwood, the technique initiated a 19th Century design ‘craze’ for gold and silver pottery.
Actually, the true origins of lustre are much older, dating back to somewhere between the 4th and 8th Century. The technique features in the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, which is beautifully decorated with Mesopotamian Lustreware tiles. And going back still further, there is evidence that the technique was used by the Romans and Coptic Egyptians to decorate glassware with copper and silver pigments.
In its pursuit of absolute perfection, Bisazza has revitalised this ancient technical process, in which powdered, precious metals are dissolved in a substance known as ‘Aqua Regia’ (Royal Water) – a carefully blended mixture of acids. This is then added to an oil base and applied to the ceramic. When fired in a kiln, an even, blemish-free metallic film is deposited.
This is how each Frozen Garden tile ends up with an impeccable, glistening gold or platinum finish, in a superb expression of design opulence.
For more information visit bisazza-australia.com.au
