Transparent Marble Tiles from 14 Ora Italiana
13 November 2008
“What’s Left”
I have spent a fairly large p
ortion of my life working on these blogs now, and one of the things I most want to convey to those who are reading them is the power of an idea, specifically a different idea. Really, when you think about it, the absolute most daring thing you can do with your bathroom design is to do something other people aren’t doing, and you know that, right? It’s human nature. Think of something different, and what first comes to mind is that it is, well, different. But the flip side is this. The moment one begins to think along those channels, ideas come to mind that never would have otherwise have occurred to one. Because the one thing necessary to a different idea is a fertile mind.
14 Ora Italiana is very much a case in point for the argument I wish to make. What they have done with their product can transform an otherwise utilitarian bathroom into a room of such luxuriousness that it is very nearly decadent. How many of us would think to use marble in our bathroom, but, really no
w, what could be more elegant? Personally, when I think of marble, I think of those magnificent sculptures by Michelangelo, but it is also a material that is used in the most opulent of applications. Think of a palace, and marble floors immediately comes to mind. But marble is much more than a material for sculptures and flooring. Neither is it cold and forbidding and stodgy. Like anything else in life, how it looks depends entirely on how it is shaped and used.
In the cas
e of 14 Ora Italiana, they have come up with a most innovative use of this ancient building material. What most differentiates marble from other materials is the randomness and sheer beauty of the grain that wends its way through the stone, and what better way to display this grain then to form it into translucent sheets. And this, in turn, opens things up to wonderful design statements.
Because 14 Ora Italiana has thought to form marble into translucent sheets, it can now be used for room dividers. Any large bathroom appears luxurious, if only because of its size, but a bathroom large enough for a room divider should employ this device whenever possible, because of the sheer luxury it adds to the room. And if, perchance, the divider can be made of something as luxurious as a translucent sheet of marble, well, it is really hard to think of a more elegant touch for a bathroom design.
However, 14 Ora Italiana has taken this concept one step further and formed their marble sheets into designs, by combining strips of opaque and translucent marble. The effect is stunning. And yes, I know I use that word quite a bit in these blogs, but sometimes no other word really describes the product of a mind unencumbered by the necessity of avoiding different ideas and concepts. Free yourself of the past, and what’s left is often the future.
Joseph
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