Tile Style: 6 Modern Ways To Honor The Ancient Art of Tilework

Forget drab tile walls: these projects show that there is so much to learn about the art of tile design.

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Tiles have been a staple of architectural design dating back thousands of years. They grace the world’s oldest temples and mausoleums with meticulous detail and eye-popping color. Still today, tile mosaics are being discovered in places like Pompeii, giving us a glimpse into the world of civilizations we thought were long lost. Yet, unfortunately, tiles no longer have the prestige they once held. Nowadays, they have largely been reduced to utilitarian functions — more a drab backdrop than a dainty handicraft — such as covering a bathroom’s walls. It might seem like the art of tiles, after a millennia-long run, is finally on its last legs.

Luckily, as these six residential projects below demonstrate, this art is not completely lost. Whether by taking into account historical context, architectural harmony or simple artistic whim, these projects illustrate different approaches to tile design and prove that this craft still has much to teach.

Organic House at Bandra

By The White Room, Mumbai, India

This tiny apartment in the suburbs of Mumbai takes tile design in mystical directions with colorful and delightfully free-flowing patterns that seem to pay homage to Antoni Gaudi. In the kitchen, the turquoise tiles offer a refreshing counterpoint to the gingerbread-colored cabinets and the arched white plaster walls. But it’s the bathroom’s tile work that impresses the most: a petal-formed turquoise sink and a cobweb patterned shower wall flecked with bright primary colors captivate the imagination.

The Musician’s Mews

By Andy Martin Architecture, London, United Kingdom

Upon entering the sunken courtyard of this renovated London house, visitors are welcomed into a narrow stairway framed by charcoal tiled walls. Yet, rather than provoke a sense of gloom, this design choice playful counterbalances the translucent lighting above — a pattern of light and dark that serves as the overriding architectural motif of the house. This pattern is occasionally inflected with a bit of color, including a large mosaic made of medal shaped tiles that occupies one of the walls.

MM HOUSE

By OHLAB / oliver hernaiz architecture lab, Palma, Spain

Planted in the hilly landscape of Mallorca, the design of this house is deceptively simple. The smooth, minimal white plastered exterior draws attention away from the complex and idiosyncratic layout of the of the house. Similarly, though watercolor turquoise tiles coat the house’s triangular terrace, this splash of color is so well hidden that it is nearly invisible from the outside. This tile pattern extends inside, where the soft green and beige hues echo the Mallorcan flora seen through the windows.

House of Miracles (Casa de los Milagros)

By Naser Nader Ibrahim, Coatepec, Mexico

Photos by Naser Nader Ibrahim

“A mushroom, an octopus, a bat cave, a flower, and even pie-topping meringue” a but a few names that visitors have given to this truly out-of-this world house in Coatepec, Mexico. Evocative of Gaudí’s trencadís-encrusted Parc Güell, he house is meticulously tiled inside-out. From the faded, wine-red tile work of the exterior mimicking arid desert surfaces to the living room and bathroom’s use of vivid, shattered tiles extending the magical, off-beat ethos indoors. This house may seemingly not belong in this era — or maybe on this planet — but it should at least it offer architects inspiration for how to creatively adopt tiles in their own projects.

CASA PALERM

By OHLAB / oliver hernaiz architecture lab, Lloret de Vistalegre, Spain

This rural hotel in the heart of the Mallorca countryside repurposes an old farmhouse into an idyllic holiday retreat with generous views and rustic details. In keeping with the vernacular design, OHLAB uses traditional construction details throughout, including reused ceramic and hydraulic tiles. In particular, the uneven glossy hydraulic tiles in the bathroom reflect sunlight in distorted fashion, evoking a handcrafted quality apparent elsewhere in the hotel.

Triplex at Sant Antoni

By Valentí Albareda Studio, Barcelona, Spain

Like the rest of this home, the bathroom of this triplex in Barcelona merges the rugged texture of antique brickwork with the smooth and sophisticated touches of modern design. Here though, the pairing works particularly well: the sandy color of the contemporary clay tiles matches the vernacular limestone walls overhead, highlighting their textural rather than their tonal differences. Still, the new tiles are not entirely stylistically dissimilar. Their unpolished look and uneven alignment give them a sense of age, echoing the old brick patterns found elsewhere in the home.