Markets asked for them and the Italian industry met the need. We are talking about large and very large format porcelain slabs.
Italian manufacturers have managed to create perfectly flat slabs of considerable size, even over 3 metres in length, but at the same time of extremely reduced thickness, even a few millimetres, reducing their weight and allowing their application in hitherto unthinkable contexts.

Slabs reproduce the same qualities as tiles, enhancing their aesthetic performance and maintaining the same exceptional characteristics.
One of the first applications proposed was the covering of floors without demolition of the existing surface. Today we find porcelain applied as a finish to furniture and kitchens or on the facades of buildings. The sheets can be finished with antibacterial surface treatments, finding application on both vertical and horizontal surfaces in environments such as clinics, hospitals, medical offices but also kindergartens and schools. Their flexibility and durability have allowed them to be used in extreme environments,  as for lining motorway tunnels’ curved walls, that need frequent cleaning to offer a reflective surface. Another task solved with Italian ceramics.

Sensitivity towards environmental issues has placed ceramic surfaces that replicate the grain and veins of natural stones in a new light. Not only is the visual and tactile quality now such as to make porcelain surfaces difficult to distinguish from those in natural material, but it also allows the creation of projects of the highest quality and exceptional performance.

For example, think of the flooring of shopping centres and tourist accommodation facilities, where the need for exceptional aesthetic and mechanical performance is accompanied by the need for long-lasting coatings. Porcelain offers an excellent, high-impact, environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative.

The creativity of Italian manufacturers has gone further, creating surfaces that are inspired by natural stone but modifying the nuances and veins to create new effects, not found in nature. The new digital decoration techniques allow the creation of different veins in each tile to avoid the repetition of similar modules and give a natural overview, very important when it comes to large surfaces in open space.

However, it’s not only stone that provides inspiration: wood, fabric, cements and metals have also become part of the creative offer of Italian ceramics. Thanks to the combination of digital printing and three-dimensional surfaces, the chromatic and visual effects are surprising to the point that only a very careful observer will recognize the true origin of the material.

If nature is a great source of inspiration, creativity of designers coupled to Italian taste continually propose new and effective textures for the creation of unique and unforgettable environments.

The Italian ceramic industry is made up of about 280 companies that employ 27,500 people and have a turnover of over 6.5 billion euros, with a high propensity to export.

The sectors that make up the industry are those of the production of ceramic tiles, sanitary ceramics, tableware, refractory materials and bricks, and all belong to the Confindustria system.

The sector is characterized by two peculiarities: the high international projection and the huge investments in technological innovation. 85% of ceramic tiles and slabs produced in Italy and 55% of the production of sanitary ceramics are destined for export. While operating throughout the national territory, the main production districts are Sassuolo, Imola – Faenza, Civita Castellana, Vietri sul mare and Impruneta.

Confindustria Ceramica is the trade association of industrial manufacturers in the ceramic branch. Edi.Cer.spa is Confindustria Ceramica’s service company organizing Cersaie, the International Exhibition of Ceramics for Architecture and Bathroom Furnishings (Bologna, Italy).

Ceramics of Italy, is the sector brand that is licensed for use by ceramic companies associated with Confindustria Ceramica in compliance with a specific authorization process. Associated companies can request the license to use the Ceramics of Italy brand which is strictly applied to products of Italian origin.