At the very beginning, the flooring of the Monslab Gallery Porto Venere, the art gallery hosting DesignTaleStudio’s “Meta Design” exhibition was made of porphyry, as is the rest of the Portobello area in Porto Venere. Then, during the setting up of the exhibition, we asked ourselves: why don’t we install large size porcelain stoneware slabs, as we usually do in our real life projects?

Making these decisions on Second Life is, of course, a very easy job, as there are no benches to be moved. The technical features of porcelain stoneware (strength, acid and frost resistance, low absorption levels, cleanability…) clearly lose their value in a virtual space and the only value criterion is that of aesthetic pleasure. So, how can the slabs “stand out” in a visually convincing way and faithfully reproduce the original? After having carried out some trials with some modern style collections of our parent company, Refin, the very tiles that we usually combine with DesignTaleStudio slabs, we have opted for the Velvet Ground Grafite. They are large size slabs, opaque and dark, which exalt the luminosity of the displayed works and create a kind of discontinuous effect with the outdoor space, in such a way to visually mark the entrance of the gallery, as it does not have a door.

From a technical point of view, the first solution we tried was that of repeating the image of a single slab imported as a texture, but then we realized that the Second Life rendering engine is not able to faithfully reproduce the colour-shading. After many attempts, we decided to create a single texture image on every backdrop, in which the installation pattern had been emulated using Photoshop and drawing very small grout-lines within a large image of a single “miniature” of the slab. By loading the image at the highest definition possible on the Second Life editor, we managed to obtain a flooring effect we were happy with. In this way, we also managed to save on the number of prims, which meant that we could afford to buy more cocktail glasses…

The main problem we came across while setting-up the “Meta Design” exhibition, was that of doing justice to the sheer beauty brought to the real world by DesignTaleSudio’s ceramics. The Pareti d’Autore where meant to be main cladding surface and works of art all at the same time, therefore, they had to, without compromise, “stand out” the best way possible.

The majority of the interior floors and wall-tiles we see on Second Life fall into two categories: the “ordinary” ones (flat surfaces, characterised by a feel of “comfortable” minimalism and with no basic aesthetic research) and the “grotesque” (textures which struggle to emulate real materials such as parquet, marble and stone with the use of photographic images). At the moment, perhaps the most interesting creations are those which use semi-transparent, opaque material, such as large, slightly reflective windows or plastic panels.

Ceramic has proven still difficult to use on Second Life, but with a bit of extra effort we believe we managed a better result than expected. In our opinion, the concept of the traditional ceramic tile as we know it, that is to say, a small glazed tile, is verging to grotesque, especially when the surface is reflective and the installation pattern conveys a very “grid-like” effect. The result is a kind of mural of identical repeated images where the real-life luminous qualities of the tile are reduced to whitish geometric shapes, mechanically repeated in an un-natural way. With larger sizes the same problem is slightly reduced though still visible: it is therefore better to use opaque products where graphics outshine the tactile and visual effects of the material.

Various slabs designed by famous personalities, such as those of Rashid, Fiorucci and Bermudez, actually did have these very characteristics and it was therefore relatively easy to display them effectively. But it was a different story for the totem designed by De Lucchi and, especially, the DesignTaleStudio’s Pareti d’Autore, whose light and material effects of the three-dimensional surface had to be reproduced. The solution we came up with was to use photographs of the products whose reflections had been partially reduced. In the case of De Lucchi’s work, the surface of the slabs was a single image, previously created with Photoshop by delaying the overall light of the original “amateurish” photo taken during the Design On Stage exhibition. But the Pareti d’Autore, especially the overly iridescent “unphotographable” ones like the Gold and Platinum, worked better if used as decoration rather than repeated backdrop. After being slightly retouched via computer and loaded on Second Life with the maximum resolution possible, the images from afar recaptured all the energy of the original designs while the close-up showed the fascination of their softness to the touch and light.

In one of his recent articles Stefano Bernuzzi in Archinfo took stock of the current situation of architecture and design in the virtual world of Second Life. The article made us reflect a lot and now we strongly recommend it to every fan of architecture and architecture professionals.

After covering interesting competitions and experiments that took place recently, the article moves on to review the most common opportunities and problems featuring the metaverse. Firstly, Bernuzzi bemoans how only very few architects still have demonstrated a knack of capturing the potential of Second Life, in terms of experimental platform, where to introduce and test radically creative and innovative solutions; and, not to mention, in my opinion, the planning of virtual spaces destined to three-dimensional “experiences” which can only happen in the metaverse and cannot consequently be emulations and prototypes of the “real life”. Secondly, what we have seen so far hardly moves away from the archetype and concepts of “real” architecture, which are often based on destinations of use restrictions, actually disappearing in the virtual world to make room for other bonds. Nevertheless, the article unfailingly points out how in the “Linden Economy” (which, in reality is not all that “virtual”) architectural planning and the realisation of buildings is becoming one of the most sought-after and profitable activities and therefore prospectively highly competitive. In short, we need to get a move on.

In light of all this, we believe it essential for a company which produces architectural and building materials, such as ours, and in particular for its creative laboratory, which by definition is constantly striving to seek aesthetical innovation, to be open to the many opportunities of the virtual architecture. We need to force ourselves away from this traditional “material” culture and attempt a new conceptualization of the ceramic product that shifts from a tangible object (the “pallet” logic) to a pure aesthetic object (the “file” logic).

We have already spoken of the trust Refin and DesignTaleStudio have put into “metaverse architecture” as a platform for creative experimentation, as a test-bed to launch new products. Our very own “Meta Design” was our first “attempt” into the world of “virtual porcelain stoneware slabs” for wall cladding and flooring in Second Life. Our work carries on, parallel to the development of the “rendering engine” of the metaverse of Linden Labs: we are positive that new really innovative and useful solutions for “virtual architecture” will only be possible after the creation of truly convincing interior and exteriors. In the next few days we will share a few observations worked out during our experience in Second Life in the hope they will be helpful for all architects currently facing virtual worlds.

On Monday night we celebrated the opening, on Second Life, of the “Meta Design” exhibition, at the Monslab Gallery Porto Venere: an exclusive art show where one can admire and “virtually” buy DesignTaleStudio slabs.
We are extremely satisfied with the outcome of the event: almost thirty avatars visited our space and we indulged in pleasant conversations with many of them via our two “virtual representatives”, Monslab Writer and KeyraDesigner Beaumont. In particular, we would like to mention the encounters with LauraAnn Rossini, ZioBacco Oh, Gianfilippo Rossini, Paolo71 Dinzeo, Egisto Pera, Draikor Allen, Spilleben Mayo. Unfortunately, due to a technical problem, we were unable to show the promised video interviews, but we are confident to be able to do so soon. We have also created a DesignTaleStudio group within Second Life, that will allow us to keep in touch with all the avatars who showed an interest in DTS initiatives and works.

The trailer you see above is a brief glimpse showing the completed space, a video which we are currently distributing on the web. We would like to take the opportunity in this post also to publicly thank the Porto Venere community, who are hosting us and helping us considerably from a technical point of view: amongst many AnneMarie Perenti, Franckie Benelli, Sophia Barnes, Ariannas Slade, Sirk Voom, Burb Demina.

We have decided to keep on the exhibition open until September 9. Click here to be teleported there: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Curlew%20Waters/131/203/22

DesignTaleStudio lands on Second Life, the on-line community that is taking the world by storm and is hitting the headlines every day. On Monday, July 23 at 9.00 p.m. , our “Meta Design” exhibition will make its debut in the Monslab Gallery in Porto Venere, one of the most “Italian” places in Second Life.

The exhibition will present a selection of the DesignTaleStudio’s Pareti d’Autore, chosen from the ones in the catalogue and the prototypes designed by the most important artists, such as designers Elio Fiorucci, Karim Rashid and Michele De Lucchi.
“Touching” each slab with your avatar (your virtual Second Life personality) will open up a description of the object, with a link to the corresponding page on the DesignTaleStudio.com website.

The majority of the slabs will be on sale (virtually) so that visitors will be able to display some of the designs in their virtual home and islands. The price in Linden Dollars corresponds to the value in Euro and every week a different piece will be available to purchase at a greatly discounted promotional price. Finally, a streaming video on a plasma screen will show the designers (in Real Life) commenting on their works.

Second Life is a communication channel with enormous potential for architecture and design, many companies are joining it but Ceramiche Refin’s DesignTaleStudio is the first ceramics company to launch an initiative of this type, once again underlining the strong innovative drive of its staff.

We will therefore be waiting for you every Monday night at the Monslab Gallery in Porto Venere!
Here is the link that will bring you to “Meta Design” in the Monslab Gallery:
Curlew Waters (131, 203, 22)