23.02.22

Italian company Mutina doesn’t just manufacture tiles. Always on the cutting edge of design, Mutina is constantly surprising the industry with daring design concepts that include unique 3D elements, and tiles which jump off the wall with their evocative textures and patterns. These designs are fruits of longstanding collaborations with an international roster of artists, designers and architects, and the result show in their versatile interior and well as structural applications. The latest, Hives by Konstantin Grcic, takes its inspiration from nature, but adds on further dimensions to create a winning modularity that can be configured in many attractive ways. Explore other Mutina 3D elements and tiles which will surprise you with their uniqueness and versatility!

Hives by Konstantin Grcic 

The hexagon is the representative shape of honeycombs, fully invented by nature but yet is a shape that looks geometric and technical. It is this extraordinary quality that German designer Konstantin Grcic extrapolated for his Hives 3D element for Mutina, a brick made of extruded terracotta that is the shape of two conjoined hexagons. The materiality of the brick gives the elements its organic colour, texture and properties, while its shape presents many possibilities for creative manipulation. The 13cm by 22.5cm by 7.5cm brick can be placed upright, or flat in stacked or staggered configurations to form dividing walls, curved pillars or become part of structures and furniture. Hives can be used indoors, or outdoors under shelter.

Bloc by Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec

What could be more basic for building architectural and decorative structures than the basic brick? French designers and brothers Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec envisioned their building block for Mutina as a cuboid of 13cm by 13cm by 10cm characterised by four holes, and named the collection Bloc. Available in natural terracotta as well as in Pearl, Blue, Red and Grey in both matte and glossy finishes, the holes of Bloc can also be filled in with the wooden Tube in red and blue to fashion further patterns and colour combinations.

Celosia by Patricia Urquiola 

Made with terracotta, Celosia by Patricia Urquiola is the first of Mutina’s 3D elements to celebrate the natural texture and colouration of the earth with the bare unadulterated surfaces of each module. The material also records the unique marks of its production, much like artisan pottery. Resembling roman numerals, the repeated application of each 20.5cm by 26.5cm by 10cm module conjures up striking structures that have numerous creative applications as partitions or claddings.

Rombini by Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec

The Triangle module of the Rombini collection by Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec cleverly uses the element of natural light and shadow in its aesthetic appeal. Triangle features accordion-like peaks and valleys in three sizes – extra small, small, and large, with the extra-small size being the latest addition to the family. A new glossy finish has also been applied to all the colours of the elements, Blanc (white), Gris (grey), Rose (pink), Vert (green) and Brun (brown). Vert and Brun in particular, stand out for their exceptional richness of colour thanks to the application of a reacting enamel.

Punto by Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec

The appeal of the Punto collection by the prolific Ronan and Ewan Bouroullec brothers lies in its simple repeated patterns of long and slim 4cm by 31.5cm tiles that sport rows of large raised dots (Up) or sunken dots (Down). Similar to Rombini, Punto also relies on the effect of light and shadow to best highlight the haptic patterns, which look best on large wall surfaces. The colours echo those of the Rombini Triangle, in Blanc (white), Gris (grey), Rose (pink), Vert (green) and Brun (brown), in both matte and glossy finishes.

Phenomenon by Tokujin Yoshiyoka 

Appreciate the delicate marks of nature on Tokujin Yoshiyoka’s Phenomenon collection. With small textural gestures, the designer evokes the natural phenomena of rain, honeycombs, rocks, air, wind, and rain with poetry and finesse on slabs in sizes of up to 30cm by 30cm. The designs are available in three light shades of Bianco (white), Fango (grey), and Grigio (beige), and one dark shade Nero (black).

Visits to riceLAB are strictly by appointment only and limited to four people per group. We encourage guests to make their tile selections online at www.rice-fields.com before coming down to minimise their time spent at riceLAB. Make an appointment by emailing us here or by calling 6692 1199. riceLAB is at 213 Henderson Road 01.03 Singapore 159553. RICE is open from Mondays to Saturdays 9am to 6pm.

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Keywords 
Mutina, Mutina Hives, Mutina Bloc, Mutina Celosia, Mutina Rombini, Mutina Punto, Mutina Phenomenon, Quality tiles, Italian tiles