Celebrating nature with Marca Corona

Increasingly, when it comes to the future march of interior brands, social responsibility seems to be combining with aesthetics in a common purpose – that of celebrating nature. On the one hand, sourcing and making processes are being honed into an ever more circular motion, with the aim of drastically reducing adverse impacts on the natural world. On the other, our wellbeing is nurtured by using the sensorial characteristics of nature in the products themselves – the practice of biophilia – which is proven not only to ease the eye but to be salutary in so many ways.

Tile-making is one such area of the interior industry. Take Marca Corona, an Italian ceramic tile manufacturing firm based in Northern Italy. Consciously produced tiles have a long history with the company: for years, it’s used a significant part of its production waste to create new road foundations and railway embankments.

Today, 100% of its waste, from all stages of the production process, is recycled into the production of the tiles, which means fewer resources are taken from the land. Add to this the attention that is directed towards energy saving, with the excess thermal power generated during the firing of the tiles channeled into new production cycles and heating the work environments, alongside wastewater recycling and local sourcing of raw materials which minimises transport emissions.

Environmental consciousness is also reflected in Marca Corona’s company ethics based on respect for nature, the land and its people. To confirm its commitment to these core values, the company is certified according to the highest international and ISO standards regarding green and sustainability practices.

They range (among others) from PEF (a measure of product’s environmental footprint over its lifetime), LEED V4 (a measure of recycled materials), and USGBC (a measure of sustainable practice provided by the American green building council), to EPD (a voluntary declaration of environmental impact) and WELL (assessing the wellbeing of building occupants alongside respect for environmental concerns). The latest they are proud to attach is industry specific – the ISO 17889-1 which qualifies ceramic tiles in terms of sustainability, using 38 indicators.

While all is being done industrially to keep nature doing its precious thing, on the drawing boards of the design studio, nature’s treasured attributes filter through. Look and feel the output of the 280-year-old tile-makers from Sassuolo and you perceive nature – from wood to leaves, to earth and stone. Marca Corona’s latest collections have been designed specifically to build the colours, motifs, and textures of nature into our interior worlds.

It’s a holistic presence that can enhance physical and mental wellbeing, while also facilitating the merging of indoors and out, a trend that has only been reinforced by recent lockdowns, and a yearning for nature among those who have it in limited supply. ‘Surfaces, designs, and colours are oriented to solutions that bring people towards a feeling of well-being,’ says the company. ‘It results in soft, relaxing colours, designs that draw on the world of nature, and surfaces that are soft to the touch.'

In the Multiforme collection, for example, which offers alternatives to cement and resins, finishes come in nature-derived shades but also with decorative finishes representing leaves and blooms, for the creation of indoor gardens. Fronde is an arrangement depicting tumbling tendrils – a leafy cascade to install on a wall. Bouquet introduces flowers to the design of walls and Foliage is a bold pattern of dense vegetation for floors and walls, that submerges you in green.

Elisir Royal, meanwhile, launched last year, is a collection of tiles that carry all the attributes of wooden boards in stoneware form – from its patterns and structure, tactility and colour, and down to an oiling effect in the finish. It brings with it hygienic surfaces and the option of a grip finish for safety purposes.

The latest range to launch, Arkiquartz, takes its inspiration from Kavala stone, found in Mediterranean regions. The texture is interpreted graphically, to create a hyper-real appearance of bumps, cracks, and scratches while remaining soft to the touch. Leaf motifs have also been brought into this range, though here in a more gentle tonal way which suggests cast shadows.

Marca Corona’s latest products are further proof that the pressing need to preserve the earth’s green lungs is also generating creative breathing room for innovative design. Since sometimes it’s better to imitate nature than to harvest it in places it doesn’t belong.

© Architonic