This Wall of Tile is Completely Bananas

Written by

Nancy Mitchell
Nancy Mitchell
As a former Senior Writer at Apartment Therapy, Nancy split her time among looking at beautiful pictures, writing about design, and photographing stylish apartments in and around NYC.
published Jun 21, 2016
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(Image credit: Marie Claire Maison)

I look at lots of pictures of tiles, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this. This totally absurd wall of tile, composed of dishes and vases and spoons and maybe even a few actual tiles, is proof that, with enough determination (and enough grout) you can use pretty much anything as a tile.

(Image credit: Marie Claire Maison)

From afar the wall forms a sort of wild texture: closer examination reveals the individual ’tiles’, in a myriad of shapes and a huge spectrum of colors from blue to green. It’s almost like a little museum, drawing you in and encouraging you to discover and linger on individual pieces.

(Image credit: Marie Claire Maison)

I am very curious about the particular logistics of the wall’s creation — it looks like perhaps the wall is made of concrete (which serves as the grout), and individual pieces were pressed in while it was drying. Has anyone ever done anything like this? If so, we’d love to hear your process (and also, send us pictures!).

(Image credit: Marie Claire Maison)

The wall (which hides a bathroom) is part of a loft space in Milan, on the top floor of a renovated factory, occupied by architect and interior designer Paola Navone. She created the display from broken bits of pottery, collected from various factories over the course of two years. “The aesthetic of imperfection fascinates me,” Paola says. “It can mend things and give them a second chance.”

(Image credit: Marie Claire Maison)

The rest of the loft is pretty fascinating, too. Like — who could’ve imagined that a pebble tile floor, outside of a bathroom, could look this good? See the whole thing on Marie Claire Maison.