Surfaces of light

A project born from memory. A return to the authenticity of craftsmanship, the reassuring solidity of material and the depth of artisanal character. This is where the Lume collection begins. Marazzi looks to the allure of the past, not with nostalgia but as a source of inspiration, rediscovering its warmth, comfort and serenity and translating these qualities into a collection that engages with contemporary living in both style and functionality. At the heart of Lume – a collection that quickly became an icon – is the most traditional form of craftsmanship: handmade glazed tiles. Marazzi captures their aesthetic and tactile qualities and reinterprets them in porcelain stoneware. It is therefore no coincidence that Lume forms part of the Crogiolo project, the fullest expression of Marazzi’s research into industrial craftsmanship, through which the company rediscovers the beauty of coloured and decorated ceramics in collections with an unmistakably handmade character.

Lume is perhaps the ultimate expression of this journey. Its surface is characterised by extraordinary depth and dynamism: richly glazed, highly glossy and deliberately imperfect, it is designed to evoke both visual and tactile sensations. Colour, whose intensity varies from one element to another, plays a defining role: soft nuances and a delicate palette of 16 shades further evoke the character of traditional ceramics. The effect is enhanced by the available formats – 10×10, 6×24 and 21×18.2 cm – as well as three three-dimensional structures, Dew, Rake and Swing, inspired by the trend for fluted surfaces and offering even greater creative freedom.

From this exploration, it was a natural step for the company to imagine extending Lume’s material luminosity and vibrant character to different scales and applications. This led to the creation of Grande Lume, a collection that embraces the same concept of a fluid, evolving material reminiscent of the natural processes of the earth, where colour emerges through density, layering and light, and translates it into large-format surfaces: 160×320 cm and 120×278 cm with a thickness of 6 mm, and 162×324 cm with a thickness of 12 mm. Once again, colour – with its deep, saturated nuances – plays an essential role in defining the collection’s identity. Shades such as Ossidiana, Malachite, Petrolio, Cobalto, Magma and Pomice have been carefully selected for their ability to evoke minerals, molten earth and liquid reflections, as well as for the harmonious combinations they create when used together. The large format amplifies the collection’s sensory impact, transforming colour into an architectural design element and light into an integral part of the space. Grande Lume makes it possible to create visual continuity across architectural volumes, dramatic feature walls and furnishing surfaces. The collection can be used for floors and walls as well as horizontal surfaces, including kitchen worktops and tabletops.

The result is a landscape of living material, composed of translucent veils, areas of greater density, deeper passages of colour and more transparent sections that generate rich, dynamic chromatic fields. As with Lume, this is not simply a surface effect, but a quality intrinsic to the material itself. Ceramics reconnects with the earth and its primordial force, evolving into a surface of remarkable natural richness, luminosity and elegance. Lume and Grande Lume thus represent two expressions of the same vision: closely related in their aesthetic language, yet complementary in their functionality.