Attracting more than 95 000 visitors, Cersaie 2024 gave exhibitors and visitors a worthy show, despite a challenging market environment and an industry under pressure.  

Hosted, as always, in Bologna, Italy, the 41st edition of the show included a keynote lecture by Riken Yamamoto, the 13th Pritzker Prize laureate. “We are delighted with the success of this year’s Cersaie, which is one of the main highlights of our trade fair calendar,” said Antonio Bruzzone, chief executive officer of BolognaFiere. 

Cersaie by the numbers 

• International visitors: 47 095. 
• Italian visitors: 48 226. 
• Total exhibitors: 606. 
• Tile exhibitors: 332. 
• Foreign (non-Italian) exhibitors: 230. 
• Total floor space: 145 000. 

Style trends 

A number of trends continue to dominate at the show. Tiles with an artisanal look and feel contrast with Versace’s vintage patterns and designs.  

Gruppo Romani’s message was “tiles are sexy”, with a range articulated in the feminine. It focusses on the journey from raw materials to the tradition and craftsmanship still represented in industrial production.  

Presented as tiles that speak for themselves, WOW Design continues to specialise in small-format collections. With expressions ranging from three-dimensional (3D) tiles and relief textures to strong geometrics, the look is on trend for modern, re-interpreted applications for ceramics tiles. 

Organic textures and tones remain popular, with offerings from Casalgrande Padana and Gruppo Romani maximising on this trend.  

From ABK Group, the decorative designs by Paola Navone OTTO Studio powerfully reaffirm the aesthetic value of imperfection. 

Large-format tiles were also prevalent in the new classics of terrazzo and travertine. 

Explore these trends further, with our curated pictorial. 

Artisanal 

Stile from Casalgrande Padana, a stone-effect porcelain stoneware collection, showcases designs reminiscent of the characteristic workmanship of the original stone. Image credit: Casalgrande Padana

Gruppo Romani’s Infinita concrete-look by Serenissima, features colours from the Pitrizza palette, a famous classic by Cerasarda. A fine example of the group’s aim to enhance industrial production with the treasures of artisanal handmade design. Image credit: Gruppo Romani

Genuine by Carmen is an artisanal collection where each piece is unique. Its design is crafted to react with the glaze, creating subtle tonal variations that emulate the visual effects of low temperature fired ceramics from ancient artisanal kilns. Image credit: APE Grupo

In a collaboration between ABK and Paola Navone OTTO Studio, the Poetry Stone Reloaded brings its Curve range, featuring a micro-pattern that evokes the texture of artisanal sculpture. Image credit: ABK Group.

Small format 

Inspired by the golden age of Made in Italy design, Gruppo Romani’s Cir Manifatture Ceramiche explores small sizes with its City and Porta Nuova ranges. Image credit: Gruppo Romani

WOW Design’s 3D Bars is a collection made up of a three-dimensional tile with a strong geometrical relief pattern on its surface. Its small, repetitive relief pattern is available in a diamond-tip relief pattern and a bevelled one, and in a glossy or matt finish. Image credit: WOW Design

Gruppo Romani’s Verde 1999 focusses on some classics of interior design, from checkerboard inspirations to Vibes, Ca’ Mia and Artesia tiles. Mosaic shown here is VERDE 1999, JURASSIC in Bavaria Grigio. Image credit: Gruppo Romani

Spike Bars from WOW Design is a modern twist on the well-known Sweet Bars series in a highly unusual new shape – a ceramic parallelogram with a diagonal relief pattern that follows the sloping edges of the tiles. Image credit: WOW Design

Organic 

Isla Tiles, a division of Gruppo Romani, presents the charm of natural materials with its collections such as Azure, Oyster and Legni d’Italia. The organic textures and patterns distinguish current aesthetic trends. Image credit: Isla Tiles

The Abyss collection from APE Grupo speaks to calm marine spaces, as its design recreates the texture of seashells. Image credit: APE Grupo

The Supreme tile from Casalgrande Padana draws inspiration from rock salt crystallisation, replicating its colours, pattern and shine in a porcelain tile. Image credit: Casalgrande Padana

Reef, the new screen tile collection from WOW Design, comes in sandy matt shades evocative of nature. The collection stands out for the fact that the screen tiles can be combined with flat tiles from WOW’s other collections that fit into the square hole in these 3D tiles. Image credit: WOW Design

Vintage 

Renowned for blending classical elegance with contemporary luxury in the worlds of both fashion and interior design, Versace presents its new interior collection of vintage marble surfaces. It features both antique and three-dimensional patterned finishes. Image credit: Versace

Inspired by delicate Japanese origami, WOW Design presented the Yoko collection. The different angular relief designs on the tiles emulate the paper folds used in this age-old technique, decorated with glossy crystalline glazes whose colours are paler along the represented folds. Image credit: WOW Design

Marking the evolution of the broader Poetry House concept, developed by ABK in collaboration with Paola Navone OTTO Studio, is Poetry Net. Featuring fabric fibres, ‘net’ refers to a weave, with the Multi version is designed to evoke the feeling of numerous pieces of fabric immersed in shades of colour. Image credit: ABK Group

APE Grupo’s Bellagio goes back in time to a different world. This ceramic collection represents classic elegance, expressed through damask patterns, mouldings, arabesque motifs, natural elements and colours. Image credit: APE Grupo

Irresistibly touchable, Casalgrande Padana gives the timeless canneté or slatted wood effect from the 1930s, an exquisitely modern twist. They include irregular, shallow grooves, sophisticated low reliefs, graceful, appealing veining effects, material and tactile textures, geometric and chevron patterns. Image credit: Casalgrande Padana

A local perspective on Cersaie 

Kitty Douglas of Douglas Jones visited Cersaie 2024 and shares what stood out from a local observer’s perspective. 

She noted the continued popularity of terrazzo and travertine patterns – seen everywhere in a large format and mosaics, using recycled glass and with digital prints. 

Terrazzo was presented in a wide range of formats. Image credit: Kitty Douglas

Trending patterns and colours include traditional terracotta, and the natural tones of sandstone and natural stone designs. A quicky element struck Douglas as a return to a 1970s and 1980s vibe, but with a modern twist. 

Douglas notes a modern twist on retro shades and designs. Image credit: Kitty Douglas

Tile technologies from Cersaie

Specialising in the production of raw materials products for the ceramics industry, Colorobbia presented exciting new technologies for glazing.  

The Italian multinational corporation offered solutions that allow customers to digitally generate reliefs and micro-reliefs in perfect synchrony with the design, without sacrificing the properties of the finished piece. 

Forma Plus  

Consisting of three product families, each fully compatible with each other, allowing for the creation of textural effects and reliefs before and/or after digital decoration. They include: 

• Extra-Glazes, a range of water-based digital glazes.
• Graffiti series, a series of inks with water-repellent effects. 
• Neogrits Collection, a collection of grits and micro-grits.  

Low emission inks 

The AIR Evolution series of inks minimises the environmental impact while maintaining all their performance during the decoration and firing processes. This series includes a set of water-based digital glues that ensure the reduction of harmful emissions and odours.  

Ultra-low silica 

In the segment of large formats/living areas (tops/tables/panels, etc.), Colorobbia presented new surface finishes and full-body options. The formulations are distinguished by less than 2% free silica, high colourability, 3D effects and customised designs with veins. 

Colorobbia presented exciting new technologies for glazing, including grits and micro-grits.

New kid on the block 

VENUX is an emerging brand in the field of design, with its goal of accessible luxury through innovative, durable and sustainable solutions. It launched its Première collection at Cersaie 2024.  

The VENUX stand at Cersaie 2024.

The range offers surfaces inspired by marble, cement, stone, metal and monocolours, available in different thicknesses: 6mm, 12mm and 20mm, adapting to different needs and applications. In addition, the XL format of 3 200 x 1 600mm of VENUX positions itself within the sintered stone segment. 

Full acknowledgement and thanks go to www.cersaie.it, ABK Group, APE Grupo, Casalgrande Padana, Colorobbia, Douglas Jones, Gruppo Romani, Isla Tiles, VENUX,  Versace Tiles and WOW Design for the information in this article.