Materials
22 August 2022
Material library • Every month, Goodmoods investigates a material of the moment with Plendi by Vinci Construction, a general contractor specialising in exceptional projects that juggle rare materials and unique know-how.
Famous in Roman times and then eclipsed for centuries, terracotta was used as a building material and as a support for works of art. The contemporary use of terracotta marks a return to its roots. Its colour, which varies between sandy orange and brick red, is due to its iron oxide-rich material and its firing at over 600 degrees. Playing on its nuances and textures, design or architecture studios, artists or craftsmen play at modelling it by sublimating its raw aspect. Of all the uses, its original, even primitive character makes it a material for creation. Let’s decipher.
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ACCESSORY
Brick
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SHADE
Ocre
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STYLE
Raw
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MOOD
Original
Sensitive and raw design
The craftsmen invented a design language of their own by reviving the use of terracotta, which literally means « terracotta ». This gives the objects an aspect that is both brutalist, linked to natural asperities, and irreparably fragile because it is devoid of any other protection. Eny Lee Parker, Frederic Pellenq and Chris Wolton do not hesitate to use this material to create furniture with a mystical essence.
The earth as a totem
An ancestral material used in the Paleolithic era to form Venuses and animal figures, Terracotta is still used today as a support for representations. The proof is in the mystical tubular creations of Olivia Cognet, whose elements are juxtaposed or folded like thin leaves against each other. Or in the work of The Latch Key Ceramics, where the totemic spirit permeates the objects, which are full of various reliefs, ornaments and sculpted in forms reminiscent of the living nature of the earth.
In architecture: panels as if sculpted
Terracotta is also used in somewhat sharp shapes and as an ornamental covering in the creations of craftsmen. Like the brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and their Bloc collection, a series of oval tiles with holes made from terracotta.
In another style, Mother Pearl, a vegan and eco-responsible bubble tea in the heart of Tokyo, uses the natural softness of terracotta in geometric forms to resonate with its green values by focusing on a pastel alliance of natural ochre and olive green.
Merdacotta
Who says you have to be an artist or an intellectual to create green crafts? Certainly not Gianantonio Locatelli, founder of Merdacotta, a company based on the recovery of cow dung waste used to create various furniture. Furniture, vases, pots and dishes are displayed in beige to chocolate tones with whitish nuances specific to the material…
Matteo Brioni: neo-artisans of clay
Finally, the Matteo Brioni agency, awarded the prestigious Menzione d’Onore Compasso d’Oro ADI, is also a faithful follower of the red earth. The studio composes, adapts and customises it according to the medium and the chosen artistic direction. For the Furla shop in Milan, Matteo Brioni turned to MultiterraSmooth, a finishing coat based on coarse-grained clays that he does not hesitate to reinvent in softer tones than the usual dark ochre. While the Ferrari Flagship in Maranello was clad with Terra VistaSmooth in a smooth, bleached version and in an assertive neo-futuristic style.
A deciphering imagined with the complicity of Plendi by Vinci Construction, which juggles with rare materials and singular know-how for its exceptional achievements.
