At the end of the four months of friendly competition, the counters were stopped at midnight on Friday 30 September 2011.  The verdict has been pronounced. The association with the most points is…  Action Contre la Faim, with 146 800 points, ahead of Toutes à l’Ecole with 115 700 points and finally the Fondation Anouk with 64 200 points. Novoceram is delighted to donate the prize of €5 000 to Action Contre la Faim. Vincent, the Passion Leader of Blog Esprit Design who supported this association said he was “happy to have enabled ACF to win”.

The Action Contre la Faim association was set up in 1979 to combat hunger in the world by providing populations in difficulty with the means to become self-sufficient in managing water and food resources.  For more information, see this article on our blog which presents the winning association in more detail. 

Novoceram takes the opportunity to thank all the fans and others who contributed to making this operation a success, both on and off line!

From the outside, the stand resembled an imposing modern building, reminiscent of a headquarters for secret agents, organised into three large areas, each dedicated to a new collection.

Inside, visitors found the faces of the Passion Agents, the Novoceram fans taking part in the on-line game, scrolling across giant video walls at the back of the stand.

The entire surface of a mirror more than 3 m high was also dedicated to the Passion Agents to thank them for their participation and support.

To echo the on-line operation which recreates the atmosphere of a special mission for secret agents, the stand was in the style of famous spy films of the 1970s.

The large central corridor enabled visitors to move freely through the three main sections of the stand presenting the latest news from the company and the 3 Passion Leaders.

The application launched last June on  Novoceram’s Facebook page was also present on the stand thanks to three touch screens connected to Novoceram’s on-line channels - youtube.com, flickr, twitter and of course, www.novoceram.fr. Visitors could therefore become Novoceram fans to play and vote for one of the three no-profit organisations.

The stand won the Cersaie Award 2011, standing out among the more than 1000 exhibitors for its design, innovation and image communication.  The winner’s rosette was hung from one of the outside walls.  To find out more about the award, read the blog article on the Cersaie Awards ceremony.

On the floors, the patterns marked out by the tiles defined the various areas and highlighted the sizes and finishes of the new collections: Noa the surprising ceramic parquet and Vals, inspired by Vals stone.

Bathed in light, the immense dividing walls presented the new Icône collection in which the most modern of technologies  re-invents ancient French stone.  Behind the reception, visitors could admire the new Madras wall tiles interpreting the magic of Indian stone.  Novoceram Outdoor plus, the new raised laying system, was presented at the entrance, alongside Alliance, the latest gem in the Novoceram Art line.

The general effect of the stand was a mélange of great modernity (thanks to the numerous screens) and simplicity, with an echo of 1970’s style coming from the range of bright colours.

The panel of judges consisting of Silvia Robertazzi, editor of Casaviva, Aldo Colonetti, editor of Ottagono and architect Franco Origoni selected the stands which stood out for innovation, design, image and communication. In the category “Ceramic Tiles”, The Passion Project stand designed by Francesco Catalano for Novoceram won the award for the “best display design”, together with the Mutina stand designed by Patricia Urquiola in collaboration with the company’s Marketing Department and the Serenissima stand designed by Mario Righi.

The prize award ceremony took place on the evening of Wednesday 21 September in a loft in the heart of Bologna in collaboration with Confindustria Ceramica, the Association representing Italian ceramics manufacturers, which in turn gave an award to the European distributors standing out for their relationship with Italian industry.

Icone is the synthesis of research which explored dozens of types of stone to select the four which best expressed both the legacy of time and the fascination and elegance of a contemporary floor.

The result is a product with great personality but totally free from rustic connotations, a subtle balance of nuances, marks and colours, not just an imitation of stone, but an archetype of this timeless material.

Subtle shaded colours, a surface soft to the touch but gratifying to the hand with slight undulations and small marks, a variegated pattern going well beyond the individual tile - an Icone floor is enough to characterise a style of living and philosophy of life, without limiting subsequent choices of décor.

Icone is available in Ivoire, Sable, Gris and Bleu colours and in 45×45 cm, 30×60 cm and 60×60 cm sizes.

Novoceram Outdoor Plus is a collection of outdoor paving tiles consisting of 20 mm thick monolithic porcelain stoneware slabs for dry laying on screed, gravel or grass or for raised laying, with three different types of support: fixed, adjustable and adjustable self levelling.

With respect to the Novoceram Outdoor system, the Outdoor Plus slabs can also be used for raised laying with adjustable height supports enabling terraces or other outdoor spaces to be paved maintaining the gradient necessary for water drainage and at the same time bringing the surface to the same level as the indoor floor.

The open joints and raising guarantee perfect water drainage.

In situations where the tiles are laid directly on screed or a gravel substrate, Novoceram Outdoor Plus is also wheel-load bearing.

To launch this innovative system for glueless outdoor paving, Novoceram has extended the Patio series range with the Antimoine and Sable colours in the 20 mm thick 60×60 cm rectified size. Both articles have a non-slip textured surface (R11 according to the ISO text…).

Alliance’s distinctive feature is the use of ceramic wood in a 180×135 cm mosaic which can be laid infinitely to tile walls of any size, transforming them into exclusive works of art in wood with a modular motif made up of a full 8,112 mosaic tiles with a side length of 1.5 cm.

Alliance (which in French means not just “alliance”, but also wedding ring) represents the interface between apparently distant decorative themes and traditions - the ancient and noble technique of mosaic, traditionally associated with stone and glass, but here made up of ceramic wood tiles, three-dimensional rings in three different types of wood floating as though suspended in thin air on a two-colour herring-bone background inspired by an ancient Byzantine motif, a highly evocative pattern, given a modern look by fragmentation of the mosaic tiles as in the pixels of a digital screen.

From a technical point of view, Alliance is made up of twelve 45×45 tiles in which the pieces of the mosaic are deeply pre-scored with 2 mm wide blades. Made possible by latest generation printing technology, the use of pre-scored mosaic tiles, rather than pieces cut and re-assembled on a net backing, greatly simplifies laying. Once the tiles are placed side by side with a 2 mm joint and the entire surface has been grouted, Alliance is undistinguishable from a traditional mosaic.

It all begins at six in the morning on Thursday 1 September 2011. The alarm rings and I leap out of bed immediately… I absolutely mustn’t miss the train!

As arranged, I find Francesco at the station of St Vallier and we set off together, anxious that everything goes as planned and impatient to meet the Passion Leaders.

At Lyons, in front of the stately sunlit building housing the Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs, we meet our photographer Maurizio and Gemmi, his delightful assistant-fiancée all set to begin.

A few minutes early… we ring the bell.  The heavy door creaks slowly open to reveal a charming courtyard leading on the right to a small garden in front of the entrance to the Musée des Tissus.

We manage to take just a brief admiring look before Véronique, the lively smiling manager of communications and hire of museum spaces, welcomes us with a look which betrays a hint of curiosity about our original initiative and takes us to the rooms chosen for the interviews.  The meeting with Mercotte will take place in a sumptuous 18th century dining room. While the technical team sees to the last details, a cheerful self-assured voice rings out in the rooms of the museum… it’s her, our first guest, Mercotte! The interview goes wonderfully thanks to her simplicity and generosity.  It’s as though we’ve known each other for years (… apart for her great passion for rallies which comes as a complete surprise!!).

We then move to the magnificent room dedicated to the exceptional exhibition of Italian majolica where we wait for Bango.

He arrives relaxed and motivated, fascinated by the beauty of the rooms. After wheedling a few secrets from Mercotte who has already been through it, he answers our questions with frankness and sincerity, revealing a hint of emotion when he answers the question: “What would you never have imagined doing but which has happened thanks to your blog?”… the answer: “Precisely this interview!”.

While waiting for our last blogger, we are taken on a guided tour of the temporary exhibition of 18th century garments where we discover genuine treasures in fabric. The exhibition continues with clothes by the greatest designers: Paco Rabanne, Christian Lacroix and Lapidus.

Just as we are finishing our visit and going back to the museum entrance, Vincent of Blog Esprit Design  hurries in with perfect timing!

The interview with the youngest of our three bloggers takes place in the room dedicated to modern gold work, a contemporary avant-garde collection which is the perfect setting for him.

The second part of the day can now begin… everyone to the restaurant!

While Mercotte, Véronique and I choose to walk, the men want to try their hand at cycling with the Vélo’v provided by le Grand Lyon.

Superfluous to say, the women are the first to arrive at the Le Cintra restaurant. Lunch is lively and the conversation largely hinges around the way everyone lives their passion.

Finally, it’s time to take our leave, but it is only an arrivederci.  This day will remain a happy memory for all of us.

Hypnotic, elegant and exclusive, Vals stone has become the symbol of architecture in harmony with nature at the beginning of the millennium, a value so close to Novoceram’s philosophy that for the first time it was decided to dedicate an entire collection - Vals - to this unique stone.

Vals reflects the infinite structural and chromatic characteristics of the natural stone in a product which exploits the potential of latest generation ceramics technology to the full with an incredibly realistic reproduction of not just the appearance, but also the texture of the stone, the variability of the individual slabs patterned by the white quartz veins and the considerable colour variations, together with the excellent characteristics of practicality, inexpensiveness and toughness of porcelain stoneware.

Proposed strictly in the natural colour of the original stone only, the range explores its finishes and methods of working in depth.

Vals is in fact available with three surfaces:

• Smooth. The untreated natural surface, suitable for all indoor applications, with the satin finish of the stone.
• Textured. A textured finish reproducing the effects of flaming and brushing of the stone, suitable for outdoor areas or where particularly non-slip characteristics are required, such as pièces d’eau. The 45×45 textured size is also available for use with the “Novoceram Outdoor” glueless laying system.
• Lapped. A finish obtained by light smoothing, making the surface particularly soft and reflecting.

These finishes are available in the 45×45 cm, 30×60 cm, 60×60 cm and 10×60 cm sizes. The last of these in particular reproduces one of the most highly appreciated and widely used formats of the natural stone, also chosen to characterise the walls of the famous Therme Vals building designed by Zumthor.

To complete the range, Novoceram also proposes a mosaic combining the strips in the three finishes, designed to enhance surfaces tiled with Vals with an unusual material texture with a highly modern style.

The aesthetic characteristics of the original stone and completeness of the range makes Vals particularly suitable for prestigious public and commercial architectural spaces and for tiling damp environments, from large spa buildings to private bathrooms, characterised with a strong architectural and design style.