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DECOR by Ceramica Bardelli

DECOR, a rich series of tiles created by the best decorators of our century: by Ceramica Bardelli, the great designer’s interpretation for a completely new way to conceive our modern inhabit.

Ceramic tile becomes the inspiration for decorative art: DÉCOR offers seventeen lines, that are alls refinedly figurative and minutely representative of reality.

Designer Manuela Corbetta:

- Evergreen

Designer Piero Fornasetti:

- Architetture

- Bicchieri

- Libreria
- Lunario de Sole

- Mongolfiere

- Soli e Lune
- Tema e Variazione

- Ultime Notizie

Designer Davide Pizzigoni:

- I Fiori di Alice
- Treccia

- Collana

Designer Ruben Toledo:

- Cuban Veranda
- Cuban Black

Designer Tord Boontje:

- Primavera

Designer Ronald Van Der Hilst:

- Tulipani

Manuela Corbetta

Manuela Corbetta was born in Milan on 7 April 1959. She graduated in Architecture from Milan Polytechnic in May 1984. Between 1978 and 1992, she worked in conjunction with other architects designing interiors and new buildings, especially: religious buildings on the Ivory Coast, Monza railway station area plan, renovation of Art Nouveau building in Milan, renovation of cloister, Pius IX courtyard, crypt and great hall of Milan's Catholic University. Among her activities between 1992 and the present, we can recall: the design of a holiday village at Isla de Roatan, Honduras; design and works management of the Giquattro offices, Milan; the design of mosaic decors on panels, Appiani production, and setting up of showroom in Hong Kong; design of "Sunflower" composting bench that took part in the 11th "Abitare il Tempo" Show in Verona; the development of a new series of ceramic tiles (spring, universo, sargassi, onde) for Progetti Interior; contributions to interior design magazines such as.

Evergreen

An ethnic flavour is the dominant theme of this series. The Mediterranean colours act as a contrast to the African or minimalist oriental atmospheres. Almost by magic, the home is filled with the echoes of far-off peoples and lands. Handmade, the Evergreen decoration can be easily matched with the many solid colours of the “Colore&Colore” series.

Piero Fornasetti

Piero Fornasetti, a Milanese, can be described only as the most eclectic of contemporary artists: painter, sculptor, interior decorator, printer of art books, creator of over eleven thousand articles, stage settings and costumes, organizer of exhibitions and promotions at international level. He is recognized world-wide as the most emblematic representative of that rare craft of decorating objects. Gio Ponti called him an “Autentic Italian”. From buttons to items of furniture, to the most unorthodox exhibitions, this quite exceptional purveyor of the culture and taste for things exquisitely made, is perpetuating with creative rigour a tradition which was steadily verging toward extinction. Henry Miller was determined that one of his designs be used on the front-cover of the writer’s autobiografy; Neruda once said that he was “Il mago della magia preciosa y precisa”. He has contemporized his various forms and decorations without, however, being ever influenced by what is actually fashionable and creating a unique, unmistakable style so that even his works realized during the 40’s bear an imprint of actuality, a quality of agelessness. Fornasetti worked in a lot of fields, from textiles to fashion, to glasses, to metals, to vernishes, to chinas, to theatre to great exhibitions. He was awarded the “Oscar of Fashion”, the “Neiman Marcus Award”, whose other prize-winner have been Ferragamo, Roberta di Camerino, Dior, Valentino. His works are presently dispayed in several Italian and foreign collections such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Mitchell Wolfson Museum (Miami), the Bischofberger Collection (Zurich), etc. The Victoria & Albert Museum is dedicating to him a great retrospective exhibition (London, October 1st 91-January 19th 92) that will move also to Italy and to other countries. Thames & Hudson has published the monography “Piero Fornasetti designer of dreams” in English and French. The Italian edition, titled “La Follia Pratica”, edited by Allemandi, has been presented in concomitance of the homonimous exhibition on Fornasetti, hold in Rome at Palazzo Ruspoli, From November 1st to December 31st 1992.

Architetture

The classical world relives in the rarefied time dimension that Piero Fornasetti conveys to the slender figure of an arch, removing it from its time and transporting it towards the infinite. These elegant 13x26 cm. tiles are the classic ideal of all those environments where personality and taste are decisive factors. A tribute to eternal values, to re-launch even the most modern space.

Bicchieri

Fornasetti’s Bicchieri range features colours and figures for an end-result that is halfway between art and design. For elegant or lively and informal settings alike, these tiles are available in a size of 20x20 cm. A broad spectrum of variations allows scope for creativity. The goblet, cup and “glassware” designs are available in sets of 8, each in a choice of matt or shiny background.

Libreria

This room has no more walls but countless books, which draw oneiric geometric forms in accordance with the pure spirit of Fornasetti. The master’s trait pays homage to culture, being ironical about its static nature with these very pleasant 20x20 cm. tiles which offer to the estimator’s books the most various and joking opportunity of composition.

Lunario del Sole

Fornasetti’s style reigns surrealistically over the most shining heavenly body, which plays to represent the months of the year within the bounds of images which evoke the mysteries of ancient crosswords. The collection is presented in the traditional format 10x10 and allows the most various forms of composition and use. The sun unites with a very good taste even the most

original combinations.

Mongolfiere

Fly high the dreams and the magics of our time in the shape of the famous Fornasetti’s Mongolfiere hanging from the sky like dreaming carts with their gentle traits . In the clouds there is the ideal dimension for the master’s big baloons, which bring a refined elegance on the domestic walls with their shape 13x13: a beauty which is raised in time and which gives high value to space.

Soli e lune

Among Fornasetti’s most traditional iconographical references , the sun and the moon kindle new lights on the dreamy trip of the great artist, who wanted to portray an ideal and suspended world. These fine tiles of 13x13 cm. can be easily adapted to every type of room with the personality of a trait which gives a timeless beauty to the soft gracefulness of the little faces.

Tema e Variazione

The assorted faces of Piero Fornasetti look at us like angels - all different the one from the other, just as life is never the same. With these tiles of sublime grace and personality, the master evades our time, mixing together the taste for daily living and the infinite. Clouds, moons and light bulbs combine with the faces to remind us just how much the world is part of human beings and human beings, together with the environment chosen for good living, are part of the eternal.

Ultime Notizie

The wind of memories blows back to the times when people read newspapers attached to bulletin boards in cafés. Piero Fornasetti, the master of infinite time, tells us of times past, but as always updating them to the future with a great article. Its name is “Ultime Notizie”, but above all it is called beauty and imagination, a complex of decors articulated into sixteen solutions, eight of which with newspaper cuttings only, and eight with butterflies.

Davide Pizzigoni

Born in Milan in 1955, he obtained a degree in Architecture in Rome in 1984. In that same year, he began working alongside Franco Purini on the “La metropoli spontanea” project. His first one-man show was staged in 1986 (presentation by Alessandro Mendini). In 1987, he began working with Olivetti. This culminated in 1990 with the publication of a book of drawings on the “Mille e una Notte” cities. Between 1991 and 1993, he taught design at the European Design Institute. In 1994 he created the scenery and costumes for Richard Strauss' “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” at the Zurich Opera Theatre (directed by Cesare Lievi). In 1995 he created the scenery and costumes for Alfred Schnittke's “Gesualdo". Since 1996, he has been designing the silk (scarves and ties) and cashmere collections for Bulgari. In early-1999, in Frankfurt, the collection of porcelains was presented, which he designed for Bulgari, manufactured by Rosenthal. He has designed for companies like Sormani (furniture), Rubelli and Interflex (fabrics), Ceramica Bardelli and Gabbianelli (ceramic tiles). In November 1999, a series of large canvases went on show at New York during a one-night show, in the “Industria” studios, alongside a collection of scarves designed for Bulgari, “Tribale". Davide Pizzigoni has held one-man shows at Milan, Rome and New York. For Electa-Mondadori, he conceived and created a series of books dedicated to opera works; “The Magic Flute” and “Carmen” have already been published. He is currently working on a research project on the shape of empty space.

I Fiori di Alice

“I Fiori di Alice” is a hand decorated project composed by 8 floral subjects on a shiny white field tile and on 3 colored brushed field tile. The same 8 subjects are also positioned on the center of the white tile to be spread as insert on a white tile wall. The decorative system is completed by 3 shaded hand-brushed colored tiles to enhance better the running decors. The decors are color co-ordinated with the collection “Colore&Colore” and the listellos “Treccia” and “Collana”.

Treccia

The skilful hand which, using a brush, created this drawing, produced a decoration with a pattern typical of traditional woven baskets. Available in 18 different colour variations, on a rich convex strip, cm 3x20 “Treccia” can be easily matched with the decors of the “I Fiori di Alice” series and all the solid colours of the “Colore&Colore” programme. In size cm 3,2x26, “Treccia” also matches the colours of the “Riflessi&Riflessi” programme.

Collana

A two-colour diadem for a refined decorative edging, completely hand-decorated. Available in 9 different color variations, on rich convex strip, cm 3x20”Collana” can be easily matched with the decors of the “I Fiori di Alice” series and all the solid colours of the “Colore&Colore” programme. In size cm 3.2x26, “Collana” also matches the colours of the “Riflessi&Riflessi programme.

Ruben Toledo

Ruben Toledo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, and moved to New York with his family when he was just a child. He is painter, sculptor, illustrator, reporter and fashion chronicler, as well as surrealist wit of great renown. The continuous, sudden changes of fashion and the body language of style are two constant themes of his work which is naturally inspired by a latin flavour but which is also strictly connected with the American pop culture for its capability of modern synthesis. Ruben Toledo is the author of the famous “Style Dictionary”, a collection of unforgettable images which, under the form of drawings and watercolours, meld fashion at its most ephemeral with style at its most abiding. He has painted murals, portraits and album covers. He has been also the inspired creator of very personal illustrations for the top fashion magazines, among them “Uomo Vogue”, “Harper’s Bazar”, “Paper” and “Interwiew”. Toledo’s work has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Ruben’s wife, Isabel Toledo, is a talented stylist and fashion designer, both muse and indissoluble element of his art projects. Their continuous collaboration was recently the subject of both a book and a museum exhibition called “Toledo-Toledo: a marriage of art and fashion” at the Museum of Fashion and Technology in New York City, where they both live and work.

Cuban Veranda

Seven wonderful subjects inspired to that rite of memory and contemplation which is the veranda. Ruben Toledo goes back to the roots of is childhood with a collection of a clear Carribbean taste. The style of the great illustrator visits everyday life and gives the selected stories the task of rendering it eternal.

Cuban Black

Once again the theme of the verandah, cluttered with objects, plants, animals and even statues. The unmistakable touch of Master Toledo transforms the walls into a lively, Cuban-flavored scene.” Seven decorative black and white items completely hand-made.

Tord Boontje

Throughout his work, Tord Boontje explores the juxtapositions of old and new, naturalism and technology. A highly inventive designer, he has worked on products and commissions from his studio in London for 10 years but from April 2005 the studio has been relocated to the South East of France. Born in the Netherlands in 1968, he studied industrial design at the Eindhoven Design Academy before enrolling at the Royal College of Art in London in 1992. After graduating in 1994, his early pieces were made from recycled or found materials, he and his wife, Emma Woffenden, founded tranSglass, a company utilising recycled wine bottles to make exquisitely cut and shaped tableware and vases. Tord also launched “Rough and Ready”; a collection of furniture made from easy-to-find wood and recycled materials. In keeping with the utilitarian theme Tord made his designs available to
everyone by freely providing blueprints of the designs to anyone who wanted to build them, to date 31,000 have been distributed. The launch of Tord’s Wednesday Collection in 2001, following the birth of his daughter Evelyn, marks an evolution in Tord’s work. The Wednesday Collection harnesses advanced materials and technologies to create products with a romantic, poetic aesthetic, depicting nature combined with a flair for vibrancy and colour. The collection includes a series of embroidered chairs, metal and wooden tables, the Wednesday Light and the Shadow Light, glass vases, laser cut silk screens and a cabinet. At the Milan Salone 2004, Swarovski premiered Tord’s new musical chandelier entitled “Ting Ting Ting”. Tord has been working in collaboration with Alexander McQueen since 1998, designing eyewear and watches. He teamed up with McQueen to produce a Christmas Tree for the Victoria and Albert Museum in December 2003: a six-meter high, stainless steel structure covered with 100,000 crystals rotated on a turntable in the main entrance hall of the museum. Tord has worked and still works with different companies (Swarovski, Habitat, Artecnica Inc., Authentics, Kvadrat, Moroso and Rosenthal) on a wide range of projects. The following important permanent installations are to be mentioned: an artwork for British Airways at Heathrow airport, a candelabra for the Delano Hotel in Miami, an architectural feature on the facade of a new building in Covent Garden, London. Tord is exhibiting in 2005/06 at the Moss Gallery in New York, with Shiseido in Japan and with Alexander McQueen at the Milan Furniture Fair. Tord was a platform tutor at the Royal College of Art in the Design Products department until August 2005. Prizes & Nominations: Nominated for the Designer Of The Year Award at the Design Museum 2003. Won “Best Lighting Design” for the Blossom chandelier, ELLE Decoration International Design Awards 2004. The Midsummer Light won Best Product Design at the New York Gift Fair in 2004. Nominated for Product Designer of the Year at the Blueprint Awards in 2004. Bombay Sapphire, Glass Design Award 2002. Designer of the Year by Elle Decoration UK 2003. Garland Light won Elle Decoration’s award for the best light and readers choice for Future Classic 2003. “Dedalus Design” Award 2004.

Primavera

A blossomed shoot releases spring colours and perfumes: its branches and leaves weave an elegant embroidery that seems to wish to cover the walls with fervent life. The decors break down into multiple compositions that wrap and make precious the architectural and furniture elements.

NEW

Ronald Van Der Hilst

Dutch-born artist and landscape designer Ronald van der Hilst (1965), moved to Antwerp in 1993 when the city was Cultural Capital of Europe. Initially he concentrated on designing garden and landscape projects and making reports for magazines. Although it started as a joke, the tulip has become a constant theme in his work for 10 years. As a passionate flower lover from early age, he was touched by the marvellous history of the tulip of Antwerp and he realised that he – as a Dutchman - had never really had an open mind towards this ‘cliché’ flower. His collection of ‘tulip designs’ includes the crystal tulip vase "Bulbe", fashioned by Val Saint Lambert, which has been added to the tulip vase collection of the Dutch Queen Beatrix. He made Antwerp aware of this hidden treasure history by an exhibition project in 2006, in which all the official local museums and many of the window-displays of Antwerp fashion designers were involved. In collaboration with some fashion designers he made tulip drawings on clothes, published a book, created murals, reliefs, sculptures, boxes, chandeliers, illustrations and postcards all with the tulip as a theme. Also, Ronald van der Hilst designed tulip settings for the historical garden of the Rubens Museum, Museum Plantin Moretus, Castle Den Brandt and the Kalmthout Arboretum. His gardens and tulipmania have attracted the attention of International magazines and blog sites like Bloom, Elle Décor, Elle, Country Life and A Shaded View on Fashion.

Tulipani

This floral themed collection is inspired by Holland; hence, the tulip - the symbol of the land of waterways and wind mills - plays the protagonist. Its creator “Ronald Van der Hilst” is obviously Dutch. In the three colour versions based either on neutral or bright shades, “Tulips” stand out with harmonious refinement on tiles produced in the original format 20x100 cm, whose vertical elongated shape enhances the sinuous quality of subjects. These hand decorated tiles have the unique features typical of hand crafted items.