Fuorisalone 2023: an encounter of design and dry technologies

Once again this year, GCR has offered a three-stage tour through the Fuorisalone 2023: the Material Design Tour/23, which wound its way through the boutique Roberto Cavalli, in Via Montenapoleone, the brand new Design Atelier of the Studio Andrea Castrignano, in Piazza Tricolore, and the installation at the Chiostro Piccolo of the Church of San Marco in Brera organised by dOT – design Outdoor Taste.

It is in this last location that GCR Project presents its system vision: ceramics, always protagonists of architectural surfaces, become part of a dry technology package, for the creation of a raised floor that enables harmonisation between the installation and the location, the centuries-old portico of the cloister adjacent to the church.

EC1/22 is the collection that has been selected to define the spaces of the installation. Ceramics were asked to become the "shell" that could serve as frames for the exhibition, in the definition of a space that would accommodate furniture elements, such as armchairs, tables and outdoor upholstery, and air conditioning machine installations, in a connecting path between the portico and the external square on Via San Marco.

The project

For the creation of the corridor and the harmonisation of the walking levels, which allowed thousands of visitors during the Fuorisalone days to access the spaces, a dry raised floor system was chosen. Point-shaped steel elements, 60x60 mesh and height-adjustable, serve as a support for a mineral load-bearing structure with high mechanical strength, covered with 120x120 EC1/22 ceramics.

 

The choice of colours made by the dOT design group was crucial, allowing the harmonisation between the various companies' exhibitions: the blue tone of Bath Street and the brown tone of Barry Street accompanied the visitors thorugh the corridor, up to the main area of the portico, in a continuum between inside and outside, where instead the tones of grey and anthracite highlighted the different spaces.

Two concepts guided the project choices:

• respect for existing architectural features: the use of dry systems without adhesives has allowed not to interfere with the natural stone columns and existing terracotta flooring
• sustainability and reuse: the floor components were entirely dismantled at the end of the event, and can be reused in other settings

 

Technology and design

But, in addition to the construction aspect, the exhibition was an opportunity to present to the general public the innovative surfaces of EC1/22:

• design surfaces, MAP and STRUCTURED characterised the back walls: elements to touch and experience, in the modern colours Pine Street and Ray Street
• anti-slip CROSS surfaces were used for the porch and front area: the CROSS technology, applied to EC1/22 Stone in the colours Islington and Finsbury, allowed a very high degree of slip resistance (R11 a+b+c) while maintaining a surface pleasant to the touch, soft, and easily cleanable, even in the face of rainy days and the incessant coming and going of people.