3D tile FLUTES & REEDS

indoorwallconcrete

Fluting and reeding are among architecture’s oldest surface embellishments. The Greeks, and most who followed, treated these motifs as linear elements applied to columns, pilasters and walls. GRT Architects had the opportunity to rethink this relationship when designing a family of cast concrete tiles for KAZA Concrete. 'Greek columns can be thought of as modules or tiles in a way. Their proportions have fixed rules, there are options for surface embellishments, base and top details. From that small set of instructions comes literally centuries of architecture – from the most austere to playful acts of virtuosity. This seemed like a good starting point to design a suite of tiles. We proposed a triangular tile to afford design possibilities by ‘clocking’ tiles in one hundred twenty degree increments and for the different grid arrangements they produce. Each triangle is, in effect, a slice of a ‘normal’ fluted or reeded column. When arranged in a well-behaved fashion they form a surface that would look familiar to the Greeks, overlaid with a subtle, triangular matrix. However, a number of unique patterns emerge when tiles are rotated. We are excited by the balance of visual complexity and familiarity and by the knowledge that there are surely combinations we have yet to discover. GRT Architects The Flutes and Reeds family consists of four individual designs: Single Flute, Triple Flute, Single Reed and Triple Reed. While ’Single’ refers to enlarged, wide convex and concave embellishments, the ’Triple’ versions offer denser repetitions of the same effects. All four designs have the same tile sizes however it is not recommended to combine elements belonging to different sets.