Matter and surface
Cement tile
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It is a cement tile with a colored layer pressed in a mold, without kiln or glaze, that forms patterns when joined with others.
What it solves
It gives a cool, durable, easy-to-clean floor with a design that does not wear away because the color is several millimeters thick.
Today
Restore existing cement tile floors by polishing and replacing pieces instead of covering them. In new construction use it in verandas and rooms where its design can be appreciated.
Common mistake
Covering an old cement tile floor with new ceramic tile or ripping it out in a renovation.
Tomorrow
Mosaic workshops with schools and neighbors can clad benches and walls with broken pieces of reclaimed ceramic. That way the craft is passed on and the neighborhood looks after what it helped make.
Fact The colored layer of a cement tile is about 3 to 4 mm thick and is pressed without firing.
Where it comes from
- 1Rome Roman Empire, Antiquity
From the early 1st century glass tesserae were made for mosaics. - 2Catalan industry Catalonia, Spain, 1850s
The pressed cement tile was born and was exhibited in Paris in 1867. - 3Guanacaste adobe house Liberia, Costa Rica, second half of the 19th century
The Baltodano Briceño house, now a heritage site, combines adobe walls, a cement tile floor and a tile roof. - 4Cement tile workshops Cartago, Costa Rica, 20th century
There were once some 30 cement tile factories in Cartago, and today one survives.
Masters
- Antoni Gaudí Hexagonal tile for Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain, 1904
He designed a hexagonal cement tile with reliefs of shells, starfish and seaweed. Today it paves the Passeig de Gràcia and shows how a repeated cement piece creates a landscape.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Matter and surface
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.