Reptile ... pleasing symmetry and excellent fit.
Reptile scales new heights in design
01 December 2007
Kale Group, one of the world’s largest ceramic producers, aims to bring a revolution of colours and design to today's bathroom or living rooms with its Reptile range of snake and crocodile-inspired tiles.
The recipient of three international awards, the Reptile Collection combines 3D technology and ceramic and opens out possibilities for all forms of creative applications, says a spokesman for its Turkish manufacturer.
“Like the untamed creatures they are named after, Reptile must be allowed to roam free and far in the designer’s imagination, unlimited by normal conventions and unconfined by classical definitions. Rather than being a little noticed surfacing material, the Reptile series’ tiles are more like individual designer items, decorative enough to deserve being on individual display,” he says.
Designed by Parsons-trained Turkish product designer Can Yalman for Kale Group’s leading market brand Çanakkale Kalebodur and Seramik, the Reptile Collection has recently won the Annual Design Review – a US-based long-standing competition, regarded as the Oscar of the design world – by US’s leading magazine ID Design, having earlier secured the ETMK Winners by Design (Tasarimla Kazananlar Odulu) and the Elle Decor International EDIDA awards,” says the spokesperson.
“The designer Yalman has created a radically modern interpretation of organic forms. The tile line was inspired by the scaly skins of snakes and crocodiles, where Yalman has aimed at recalling Turkey’s ancient tradition of tiling and shingling buildings in repeated geometric patterns. Reptile Collection has trendy characteristics with its design and technology. It brings a new dimension to tile by modular cladding of square tiles. Reptile lives up to its promises of functionality, transformability, durability and recyclability,” points out the spokesperson.
Walls dressed in Reptile turn into decorative ambiances capable of expressing all kinds of moods and associations. With Reptile nature is not hidden or camouflaged, but boldly meets the eye and tempts you to touch its sensual form. Available in a range of dramatic colours – from tiles in bold, solid colours, to colourful pastels, the range extends the design possibilities with the distinctive coloured nodule so typical of the crocodiles’ textured skin.
The spokesman elaborates: “Reflecting the collection’s division into snake and crocodile-inspired forms, the tiles are available in two series of shapes. The irregularly-sized rectangular tiles of the crocodile series can be arranged at will to create a perfectly-fitted surface with regular edges, while creating the impression of a flowing, organic form. A pleasing symmetry allows this perfect fit, while leaving the complex irregularity we expect in nature. The shining tiles themselves are sensually shaped in a concave form which invites the play of light.
“The snake series tiles are shaped in interlocking, diamond-shaped scales, to form a regular and dramatic snake-skin effect, which is smooth, strong and irresistible to the touch. The shining surface is split from an elevated central ridge, highlighting an aggressive, arrowhead form, where the platelets seem bonded together as a whole to protect each other.”
The Reptile Collection was launched in the second half of 2006.
The Kale Group, which continues to adding 400 new products each year to its portfolio of 4,000 varieties of ceramics, natural stones and sanitary ware products, exports to 65 countries and has set an export target of $100 million to the worldwide market.
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