15 Standout Tile Designs Shaping Cersaie 2025

Come the end of September, designers, architects, journalists, and professionals tied to the world of ceramic and porcelain tiles make the annual pilgrimage to Bologna for Cersaie. In the more than two decades that Interior Design has been covering this comprehensive show, we’ve noted the industry’s vast growth and impressive innovation. This 42nd edition of Cersaie was no exception. In terms of digital printing, wood, stone, terrazzo, cement, and metallic looks were all but indiscernible from the real thing. Large-scale slabs have exploded—stretching to four feet by nine feet. Sometimes, the big Cersaie story has been all about structure and texture. Sometimes, patterns were the big take-away. Other times, a color story grabbed the spotlight.

This year, we’re happy to report, all shared top billing. Textures, encompassing dowels, reliefs, and incisions, plus 3D surfaces, begged to be touched. Finishes added layers of complexity such as combinations of glossy and matte finishes enhancing perceptions of depth in ribbed surfaces. Similarly, ultra-shiny, iridescent faces made light a protagonist in viewing stance as exemplified by Cimento’s Boton, one of several Patricia Urquiola introductions. In some cases, glass embedded in the production process, particularly for thin listrelli strips or a sparkling sand-like finish imparted a glow all its own. So did mirrored surfaces. New to us was a shagreen effect, called galuchat, on the hand-painted Sardinian ceramics of Cerasarda, a leader in this year’s bold color story. So was 41 Zero 42, based in nearby Modena, with its super-saturated Yves Klein blue and liquid jade effect. Similarly, a range of blues and greens, terra cottas and sage were favorites in the rainbow of hues, especially coloring ever-popular bricks. Faded grayed tones of chambray and fashion’s favorite dusty rose comprised a chapter in the color story as alternatives to pure pastels.

Volumes, like Marca Corona’s Arialuce and Jalousie (back at Cerasarda) lattices took dimensionality to a new level. Though not structural, the forms were quasi building materials. Graphics and painterly techniques were masterful.  For pure whimsy, Riccardo Capuzzo’s Atlantis City (part of Aquatic Creatures) for Gruppo Bardelli held associations of Wes Anderson’s filmography while the azure and lemon strokes of Antiche Fornaci d’Agostino’s Capri collection transported visitors to the beloved isola. Meanwhile, the hand-painted majolicas of Ceramica Francesco de Maio’s expanding Van Gogh collection could stand in for a trip to the master’s museum in Amsterdam.

It was only a matter of time before Moooi entered the tile realm. Its debut collection, The Nesting Room, for ABK certainly hit the wow factor. Marcel Wanders toured attendees through the installation’s three rooms, dedicated to wellness, meditation, and warmth where soothing designs drew inspiration from real and extinct animals: the Hypnotic Owl, the Rheki Rhea (ostrich), and Cloistered Dove. Wanders was not the only Interior Design Hall of Fame designer on board. Making their presence felt along with him and Urquiola were Paola Navone/Otto Studio with additions to ABK’s Poetry Stone and Poetry Net Reloaded also for ABK and Piero Lissoni with a furnishings group, Tratto, for Atlas Concorde. Join them and us in a walkthrough of Cersaie 2025.

Must-See Designs From Cersaie 2025

Atlantis City

Part of Aquatic Creatures by Riccardo Capuzzo for Ceramica Bardelli, Atlantis City evokes the timeless mystery of the legendary submerged world. Ceramic surfaces that capture myth, elegance, and contemporary artistry.

Amalfi Coast

Six patterns in Antiche Fornaci D’Agostino’s porcelain Amalfi Coast collection transport us to summer on the isola.

Ray Fall

Ray Fall, a mirrored effect from La Fabbrica’s Tonino-Lamborghini collection.

Glint

The sculptural ceramic Glint marks a dramatic collaboration between the artist Quayola and Refin.

Midollino

Midollino interprets woven rattan by architect Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva for Francesco de Maio.

Mirage Tiles

Texture, dimension, and lattice tiles starred at Mirage.

Marvel T

HBA collaborated with Atlas Concorde for this travertine look.

Arialuce

Volumetric lattice tiles from Marca Corona’s Arialuce group.

Twist

Ceramica Sant’Agostino’s Twist is an ever-popular brick in a contrasting glossy and cement look finish.

Poetry Stone Reloaded

Paola Navone/Otto Studio gave us this basalt interpretation in Poetry Stone Reloaded for ABK.

Quadrille

Decoratori Bassanesi’s Quadrille group by Clara von Zweigbergk comprises six designs meant “to dialogue with the others to create unexpected combinations,” says the designer with a background in graphic arts.

The Nesting Room

Moooi makes its Cersaie debut with The Nesting Room by Marcel Wanders for ABK.

Prisme

Prisme from Cerasarda’s Arte della Tridimensionalità showed just that, 3D prisms in highly glazed tiles suitable for residential and commercial use.

Milano Sublime

Coem’s Milano Sublime reproduces the Candoglia marble of the city’s Duomo as licensed by Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo Milano, responsible from the 14th century for the cathedral’s preservation and restoration.

Jalousie

Brilliantly glazed at four inches thick, Cerasarda’s Jalousie signature orange, is another example of dimensional tiles making headlines at this year’s Cersaie.