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Cersaie 2024 Makes an Impact

Every year one wonders how Cersaie continues to expand and attract more visitors’ year-on-year after four decades and more, and the only feasible answer is that the creativity of 600 exhibitors (in 2024) along-with the perseverance of the organisers makes the exhibition a notch better every year. We look at the trends that defined Cersaie 2024.

This year too business was as usual at Cersaie with over 95,321 visitors during the five-day event. The International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings reaffirmed its role as a unique global platform where innovations in visually and emotionally impactful booths showcased tiles and ceramics in all varieties and innovations.

 The 41st edition of the show, held in the Bologna exhibition centre from 23 to 27 September, spanned 15 fully occupied halls with a total floor space of 145,000 square metres. It hosted a total of 606 companies, including 332 from the ceramic tile sector, 91 from bathroom furnishings and 183 from the installation, raw materials, new surfaces and services sectors. The exhibition further highlighted its international scope with 230 non-Italian exhibitors (38% of the total) from 25 countries.

The five-day event attracted 95,321 visitors, 4% fewer than at last year’s show. This slight decline was driven by a relatively stable turnout of international attendees (47,095 compared to 47,634 in 2023, a drop of just 1%) and a 6.7% decrease in Italian visitors (48,226 compared to 51,685), according to the organisers.

“Despite the highly challenging international context, Cersaie’s exceptional capacity to attract visitors enabled exhibiting companies to really make the most of their investments,” said Augusto Ciarrocchi, Chairman of Confindustria Ceramica. “The exhibitors were particularly impressed by the quality of the visitors present at the show, including distributors, architects and real estate operators.

“The Italian ceramic industry continues to lead world markets thanks to the unparalleled value of its design and key characteristics such as sustainability and respect for workers’ rights. However, we face growing challenges, including aggressive dumping practices by a number of countries and a loss of competitiveness caused by ideologically-driven application of regulations such as the ETS, which while consistent with shared EU environmental goals place an excessive burden on our companies. During the exhibition, we had the opportunity to raise these issues with the many representatives of the European, national and regional institutions who were in attendance. In such a difficult context, it’s particularly frustrating that trade visitors who chose to attend Cersaie this year were inconvenienced by the taxi and airport workers’ strikes in Bologna on the vitally important days of 23 September and 24 September. The damage and disruption caused to our visitors posed a serious risk to a competitive exhibition like ours and by extension to the local region as a whole. I sincerely hope that a sense of collective responsibility will prevail and such episodes will not be repeated in the future,” said Ciarrocchi.

Trends at CERSAIE 2024

Natural Wood patterns are the RAGE

When wood on the floor is not a very practical solution then tiles that mimic the pattern has become the new in-thing in interiors. An effective solution that combines the aesthetic appearance of wood with easy maintenance has given consumers wood-look tiles, also known as ceramic wood or parquet tiles and they were in the rage this Cersaie 2024.

This year, the most visited stall like last year would perhaps be Atlas Concorde and this year they presented the new oak effect ceramics that was enhanced by the wood expertise of ITLAS. Log and Log Cansei were the two collections on focus this year and Log Cansei focused on the uniqueness of Cansiglio Beech tree that is said to be incredibly detailed and mimicked the soul of the Cansiglio forest, one of the largest beech forests in Europe. The aesthetic character of this terrain and its wood was impressed into porcelain creating rooms that reflect the warmth of the natural material with all the benefits of tiled floor/wall.

Portobello, a leader in the ceramic tile industry in Brazil, supplying 75 countries in the international markets, focused on recreating oak in porcelain tiles to overcome design and technology challenges. The creations are truly innovative and can be used to elevate any surface with its wood-look-alike ceramics.

Mosaics are back in

“Formally natural and spatially wild”, this is how Kengo Kuma concisely defines the Stone Grove project he has designed. Kengo Kuma said he had a strong empathy towards this material as it uses the waste from the marble industry to create this sustainable product.

Mosaics are back in business with various innovations in its manufacturing process. One such company that exhibited at CERSAIE was Quarella which used raw materials from the waste material found from the best Italian and international quarries, maintaining a commitment to minimal environmental exploitation.

The quarry waste material is processed into granulates of various sizes and shapes that are then blended with natural pigments and resins, sometimes mixed with other raw materials such as sands and glass, to create engineered products offering exceptional performances, boasting high resistance and durability. Quarella’s marble and quartz-based collections offer a wide range of colours and brings back the beauty of historic mosaic floors adding value and strength to nostalgic materials. This year, the Quarella stall had an installation by Kengo Kuma to bring the focus on the material.

Another favourite of ours is the new mosaic-like ceramics from Portobello, and surprisingly named after Qatar, as its surface mimics the sands of the Qatari desert.

Innovation is Here

Homey Paper Clay by Ceramiche Piemme is an innovative material designed by internationally renowned artist Paola Paronetto, that blur the lines between art and design. Created to diffuse a sense of calm and serenity, the new collection brings renewed attention to craftsmanship, bridging the industrial world of Ceramiche Piemme with the rich tradition of artistic ceramics, where patience and the slow rhythm of expert hands shape each piece.

Simone Bartolini, General Manager of Piemme, shares the story behind this project: “Homey represents our interpretation of decorative and design coverings, embodying Piemme’s vision. Collaborating with an artist and designer who has a deep understanding of ceramics felt like the natural next step in offering our clients something even more refined and exclusive…”