COMPATT

A

CEDIT:

ITALIAN CERAMIC

TILES THAT HAVE

SHAPED HISTOR

Y

18 | 1

9

CEDIT: le ceramiche d’Italia che hanno fatto storia | CEDIT: Italian ceramic tiles that have shaped history

The CEDIT Ceramiche d’Italia brand has been synonymous for over fifty years wit

h

ground-breaking experimentation in the design and technology of ceramic coverings

.

An outstanding design and corporate brand, over the years CEDIT has successfully

developed a unique focus on the process of design and the Italian manufacturin

g

tradition, with inputs from the leading names in architecture, art and design (mainly

Italian) and providing an example of how the values of the creative avantgarde and

the capability for invention can combine with the

flavour of skilled craftsmanship and

the very latest industrial technology, in a positive combination always focused on

guaranteeing product excellence

.

The company’s history began in 1947, when CEDIL Ceramica di Lurago d’Erba S.p.A

.

was founded with the aim of manufacturing white-body ceramic wall tiles with unifor

m

colour, constant working size and the ability to maintain

flatness, even further improved

by the quality of the glazes used and their resistance to crazing and acid attack

.

From then onward, the successful association of crafted quality and product

durability became one of the company’s strong points, and as early as 1948 it

installed a pilot plant with an American-built tunnel kiln for firing the ceramic tile body.

The

first tiles in 15 × 15 cm size were followed during the Fifties by smaller-size

d

tiles - 7,5 × 15 cm and 10,8 × 10,8 cm - while the groundwork for the production o

f

large tile sizes was carried out and, simultaneously, work was conducted on the

poetics of decoration, conceived as a genuine artistic revelation and the key to a new

approach to home design

.

CEDIL’s research into the use of ornamental signs applied to ceramic surface

s

received strong encouragement from the

first line designed by famous graphi

c

artist Albe Steiner, followed by a long sequence of creative associations whic

h

gave the brand and its product a highly original, distinctive identity, with a clearl

y

defined visual style that quickly gained recognition even beyond Italy’s borders;

the company’s first appearances at fairs and exhibitions in and around Milan were

the preamble for an intensive export trade, focusing in particular on Germany an

d

Switzerland, Argentina, Venezuela, the United States and Saudi Arabia.

From the small tile sizes of the Fifties to the gradually larger and larger sizes

of later periods, the company engaged in a production adventure which responded

to - and in many cases kept ahead of - the experimental decorative languages of

modernity, actually shaping the taste of purchasers and industry professionals

.

Rather than mere decoration applied to the tile, graphics became a visual vector

,

expressed within the context of the architectural project itself, giving substance and