Our innovative history
Mosaic :: BR Conspiration :: Fábio Galeazzo :: 2012
According to some historians, the first record of tiles in Brazil dates back to around 1620, when pieces of glazed ceramics from Portugal came to adorn the convent of Santo Amaro de Água Fria, in Olinda. Since then – whether for its strong representation of the metropolis’s culture, for its plastic beauty or for its thermal comfort characteristics (well suited to our climate) – the tile gained more and more space in Brazilian buildings. Initially present in panels of religious or government-owned buildings, in a few decades the beautiful pieces began to be imported not only from Portugal but also from France and the Netherlands (countries that produced their tiles with an important forma of artistic expression) and also began to serve as frontages of urban buildings.
Also in the late nineteenth century, Brazil started manufacturing the tile – but it was not before the beginning of the twentieth century that our production became regular. And although during that time some architects abandoned the use of this material (as a rejection of elements that represented the colonial period), the modern Brazilian movement, seeking to “combine tradition and modernity, and turn domestic and traditional materials into a bridge between the colonial and the modern”* (re)incorporated the tile to its architecture. Since then, the domestic tile has become a powerful artistic expression of our own culture, and depicted, along with geometric shapes, elements of our landscape, our wildlife and our flora.
Under this historical perspective, the tiles created by designer Fabio Galeazzo and now released by Azulejaria Brasil (Cerâmica Antigua) have gained even greater momentum. In a collection named Conspiração BR (BR Conspiracy, in a free translation), which consisted of 20 prints divided into four themes, Galeazzo rescues and revisits, with mastery, one of the most important elements of our architecture.
Galeazzo reveals deep knowledge, extreme sensitivity and an enormous capacity for innovation through his choice of format (15cm X 15cm, the most traditional in our production), his choice of themes (which range from Festa do Divino images to prints traditionally found in the Brazilian cheetah), and his assembly of the color palette, thus obtaining results of undeniable plastic beauty.
By combining technical and theoretical expertise, sensitivity and talent, Galeazzo proves that interior design can indeed be innovative and storytelling, playful and cultural – all at once, while providing beauty to the environment, pleasure to the eye and comfort to the soul.