S-Tiles - raccomandazioni

CONCLUDING REMARKS/TIPS

Seen through a sustainability perspective, the design profession is changing noticeably. Its relationship with companies and the role given by these to design are consequently changing within the context of their manufacturing, marketing and communication strategies.The case of ceramic products is distinct. The tile, in fact, benefits from but at the same time is a victim of its position of balancing between being an historical product with a timeless tradition and a highly standardised industrial product.While enormous capital has been invested in hardware innovation (production processes, logistics, corporate organisation), with few exceptions the preference until recently was to exploit the dominant position derived from this long tradition in contrast to what was wrongly considered software (aesthetics, design, communication…).

Today things are rapidly changing and some companies have already reaped the benefits from this change of perspective. There is, in fact, greater consideration for the role that design can play as an element in the cultural interface between industry and society. Moreover, virtuous circles among architects, distributors and producers are starting to consolidate and institutionalise themselves, whereas until recently they were only done on a spontaneous basis.In addition, within the ceramic sector the idea of ‘company citizenship’ has started to spread the cultural and social role (beyond economics) that companies can and must play in order to achieve the common objective of environmental sustainability. In this process, a close and fruitful dialogue with the world of design is fundamental.