tile history

tiles have been in existence since the time of the earliest civilizations – there are surviving examples dating back to 4000 AD.  it serves to protect houses, it marks entrances and windows, protects the structure from both heat and water infiltration, on walls, floors and roofs.  tiles are decorative, protective and extremely sanitary as well.  we like to think of tile as decorative armor – it can evoke feelings and tell stories for thousands of years.

ornament in the 21^st century

in the early 20^th century, the founding fathers of modernism declared that ornament had no place in the world of the future; that it was profane and degraded any structure beneath it.  we know that they were deeply wrong, and that ornament connects us to history, time and place.  ornament is used to express personality, family, affiliation –  it’s simply another language that is available to us.   the question is – how do we pull others back from the brink of modernism, causing them to embrace color, texture, personality?  we are hoping that ceramic tile will be the bridge.