In this second video, taken at the “Sustainable project” meeting we organised during the recent Fuorisalone, Paolo Tamborrini (Professor at the University Politecnico in Turin and author of the book “Design Sostenibile, oggetti, sistemi e comportamenti”), Mario Zoccatelli (president of Green Building Council Italy) and Davide Carra (in charge of Environmental and Quality systems for Gruppo Concorde) comment on the building industry in Italy: planners, manufacturers, builders.

You may have noticed that for some time now on our catalogues, packaging and on all promotional material DTS use, the stamp “100% Made in Italy” appears.  This is not simply yet another “style gimmick” from any common-or-garden Italian company: more rather, it is a lifestyle statement.  We will explain why.

Refin Ceramiche, the parent company of DesignTaleStudio, was one of the first companies to sign up to the Ethical Code of Confindustria Ceramica, which commits a company to declare clearly and unequivocally the geographical origin of its products.  In an industry that is becoming increasingly characterised by the phrase “Designed in Italy” (but, be careful “Made” in another part of the world, such as China, for example), the fact that a company of the calibre of Refin should keep production within the confines of Italy clearly represents a plus, and a guarantee of quality as well as social responsibility towards the end user.

But Refin and DesignTaleStudio go beyond the simplified geographical limitation.  Quoting from the certificates which always guarantee the authenticity of the “100% Made in Italy” symbol, there is an ethical standard which is reflected throughout production:

1. guaranteed and certified quality of the products and working practices;
2. innovation in both products and processes designed to meet the increasing demands of the end user;
3. social responsibility  towards staff and all stakeholders Refin have contact with;
4.  respecting the environment by managing the company in a way geared towards the constant goal of sustainable development”.

Click here for more information Research and Ecology.

Following the success of 2006, Ceramiche Refin can confirm their presence at Interieur 2008, the bi-annual international trade fair dedicated to creativity and interior design.

The stand has been completely designed by the Rotor Group, the well-known Belgium company with a wealth of design experience, creating graphics, showrooms and products for the most important companies in the world.

The stand has been specifically created to display the new collection R+evolution, designed by the famous Anglo-Egyptian designer Karim Rashid for DesignTalestudio, the creative laboratory of Ceramiche Refin. The collection is made up of exclusive ceramics with original designs and lively colours, perfectly reflecting the unmistakable style of Karim Rashid; ceramics to create unique interior patterns and colours to dress every ambience with design.

Ceramiche Refin also presents Visual, a precious and minimalist collection, on a new 90×90cm size, ideal for dressing interiors of residential as well as commercial premises.

Another important collection, which confirms Ceramiche Refin’s constant commitment to ecology and respect to the environment, is the Eco-Leader collection, which consists of at least 40% recycled material. The Eco-leader tiles also meet the standards set by the American LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, and contribute to the creation of eco-sustainable buildings.

Come and visit Ceramiche Refin and DesignTaleStudio at stand 526.

Kortrijx, 17-26 October 2008

We are taking the occasion of the Blog Action Day, this year focusing on ecology issues, to start introducing a very important topic for DesignTaleStudio and for contemporary architecture in general: the theme of bio-building and of the adoption of eco-friendly materials as the cornerstones for design spaces.

As we well know, the environmental issue is (or should be) the focus of the world political agenda: just thinking back to the recent Nobel Peace Prize given to Al Gore and his campaign on the global warming and climatic shocks. In the ceramic industry, the “hottest” themes from an environmental point of view are energy consumptions, pollution and the extraction of raw materials. In recent years, all of the most important companies in the sector, and Refin was amongst the first ones, have obtained the important Ecolabel certification as “a guarantee of the steps taken forward towards raw materials selection, higher efficiency in the use of energy and water resources, considerable reduction of polluting releases as well as in the great increasing of material re-cycling processes”.

In this context, DesignTaleStudio wants to be the standard bearer of a new productive philosophy that, by reviving the craftsmanship values and the small scale production, tries to bring into question the immutable productive logic of the industry. In the same way as the concept of “Slow Food”, based on a culture consisting of quality, creativity and freshness opposed to the “barbarism” of fast/junk food, which, in recent years, has become key to the restaurant sector, we would like to become the spokesperson of a slow approach to design, conceived as research, experimentation and uniqueness. A basic approach for today’s market which has been invaded by Asian products of doubtful quality .

Ours is the relaxed pace of those who don’t need to hurry. “Rediscover the right measure, re-conquest the expert calmness of craftsmen. Substitute the noise of machines with the silence of paint brushes for a new concept of art, creativity, experimentation”: this is what our new Cersaie catalogue states and we believe these are the values to revive for a really sustainable, eco-friendly design.

I have endeavoured to re-elaborate on certain information and opinions that I put forward as ideas to reflect on the way which, today, we take for granted things that “we need” in our everyday lives.

In a world that, we can casually say, is changing very quickly, and in particular where globalization and the world wide web have effectively turned market forces upside-down, it sometimes seems that we lose the significance of the concept of “mass market”, while, increasingly, it is the individual or consumer who creates his own personal micro-market.

It is increasingly difficult to identify groups of consumers with homogenous tastes (the classic “target” often cited by marketing experts) while the “EGO”, so dear to those who are, or who pretend to be psychologists, is back on the scene and, are effectively merely individuals with their own creativity and their own tastes and who influence or inspire companies to create new products in every field.

Today, people seem less embarrassed (even proud) to show themselves as they really are, and they tend to steadfastly refuse (to only then strangely accept them… but this is another story) mass standardization and therefore, at the same time deny, in buying the object, the “ready-made” styles. Effectively, today people are less influenced when choosing, they are less embarrassed to mix different styles, they choose one brand today and then snub it tomorrow, they do not fall for trends but observe them, they collect only what they like and, more frequently than ever, they create.
One very interesting thing is the fact that, especially thanks to the ease in which information is “globally” gathered, that is not restricted by national boundaries but, not even taking into consideration other variables, individuals have an ever increasing consumer behaviour that transcends nationality, age, tradition and cultural constraints.

To keep “on track” with the theme of this site, I believe I can permit myself to say, also based on what I have read in the Press, that products and services which we consider “a luxury” today can be seen carrying different connotations in respect to the past, and that even items that were previously not labelled this way, can now be considered “a luxury”. In fact, today luxury can also be thought as:

• No longer ostentatious or status symbol, but an object linked to the individual and therefore takes its value from the unique and intense experience of every person who lives the object (even if this is almost always based on socially shared values)
• Emotion combined with innovation
• Personalization, with objects that are (or appear to be) exclusively made for me

In this light, it can also be said that, at least for a few, the search for perfection pursued by progress is not important, but they give ever increasing importance to the value of nature, slow lifestyles, real “things” and, because of this, not perfect. Hand-crafted products are always different from one another, there is always a slight imperfection or defects which make them UNIQUE and absolutely irreproducible.

People, who today prefer to not hide their own “imperfections”, but who instead value their own complexities, are those who are perfectly mirroring this attitude even in the things they buy. Identifying oneself in what one buys also means the personalization of the object, refusing, as we have said, the standardization, the bias, the styles “dictated” by others, the status symbols and, in contrast, the desire to express and surround oneself with things that represent us, to share with others and be enriched by such a sharing of personal and different tastes and values.