Focus on Portugal: Portuguese materials such as ceramics, stone and cork have shaped the country's buildings and fuelled its manufacturing industries. Catherine Slessor considers the history of some well-known materials and how contemporary designers and manufacturers are meeting the challenges of the modern marketplace.To a profound extent, Portuguese architecture was and continues to be shaped by the availability of local materials. The country's great tradition of tile making and design has left an indelible and distinctive mark on the Portuguese built environment. Richly tiled facades and interiors have come to characterise Portuguese architecture and few things are as expressive as its painted ceramic tiles, or azulejos. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The notion of covering walls, floors and even ceilings was originally introduced to the lberian peninsula by the Moors (azulejo originating from the Arabic al-zuleycha). From the start of the sixteenth century, as manufacturing techniques improved, Portugal started making its own highly distinctive tiles, synthesising Islamic geometry, Chinese exoticism and Dutch patternmaking. The baroque era witnessed a flowering of the tilemaker's art, with vivid colours and wide ranging subject matter--religious scenes, plants, animals, people and landscapes--but the riotous polychromy of these was gradually overtaken by the more sober blue and white tiles that currently adorn so many Portuguese churches and public buildings. For over five centuries, tiles have been the focus of constant artistic and technical innovation and this fertile tradition continues to evolve through modern production methods and technologies. Portuguese tile manufacturers have invested extensively in research and development, quality control processes and manufacturing techniques, so that modern tiles can be used in an enormous diversity of applications, from highly durable exterior cladding The plastic or glass sheath that is fused to and surrounds the core of an optical fiber. The cladding's mirror-like coating keeps the light waves reflected inside the core. The cladding is covered with a protective outer jacket. See fiber optics glossary.  Cladding The cladding covers the inner core of the fiber which is the actual pathway that the light travels through. to more decorative interior settings. Ceramic bathroom fittings are also an immensely profitable national and export market. Stone is another traditional Portuguese material and the country is blessed with rich natural resources, including marble, granite, limestone, slate and breccias. These are matched by the historic expertise of quarrying and masonry, and today Portugal has an enviably large production capacity and a highly developed skills base, with many companies boasting state of the art technology to extract and process material. The modern Portuguese stone industry is involved in both the extraction and transformation sectors, generating a wide range of products such as floor and wall coverings, landscaping, sculpture, furniture and even statuary. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Given the current interest in sustainable design, cork has come into its own as a renewable, recyclable and immensely versatile natural material. The raw material for all cork products is the bark of the cork oak, which is stripped from mid May until the end of August. The cork is harvested every nine years and each cork oak cork oak, name for an evergreen species of the oak genus (Quercus) of the family Fagaceae (beech family). The cork oak (Q. suber) is native to the Mediterranean region, where most of the world's commercial supply of cork is obtained. It is cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental and has been introduced into warmer regions of the United States because of its economic value. is capable of producing 15-16 harvests over its 150 year lifespan. Portugal controls 60 per cent of the world's cork production and the material has many different sorts of uses, from wine stoppers and tableware, to flooring, wall coverings and sound insulation. The Portuguese pavilion at the 2000 Hanover Expo by Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura successfully and memorably incorporated compressed cork blocks as cladding. Though Portugal has a less well developed tradition of working with metal, investment and innovation have allowed Portuguese companies to make significant inroads into export markets, especially in the EU. The most fertile sector of activity is bathroom and kitchen fittings, but other areas such as metalwork metalwork. Copper, gold, and silver were probably fashioned into ornaments and amulets as early as the Neolithic period. Goldwork and silverwork have since employed the talents of leading artisans and artists in making jewelry, plate, inlays, and sculpture. The first great advance in metalworking occurred when techniques for making bronze sculpture were developed during the Bronze Age. and ironmongery, cladding and metal furniture are also buoyant. Notably, in recent years, copper, steel, zinc and aluminium have become more popular as cladding, with architects such as Goncalo Byrne, Souto de Moura, and Promontorio Arquitectos energetically and inventively exploring the potential of different sorts of skins to create particular effects. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DIRECTORY CERAMICS Aleluia Ceramicas 101 year old company producing white body ceramic wall and floor tiles, glazed porcelain floor tiles and hand painted tiles. www.aleluia.pt Gresco Ceramic floor tiles in innovative designs. www.gresco.pt Pavigres Ceramicas Industrial quality ceramic tiles in a variety of colours. www.pavigres.com STONE Inovopedra Young company specialising in ornamental stonework stonework, term applied to various types of work—that of the lapidary who shapes, cuts, and polishes gemstones or engraves them for seals and ornaments; of the jeweler or artisan who mounts or encrusts them in gold, silver, or other metal; of the stonemason who executes the plan of architect or engineer for wall, pier, vault, bridge, or dam; of the carver who chisels bas-relief, intaglio, or freestanding figure, using a pointing machine for accuracy; and of. www.inovopedra.com Marfilpe Marble, limestone, granite, slate and onyx. www.marfilpe.pt Marmores Centrais do Minho Minho, historical province, PortugalMinho (mēn`y ), historical province, NW Portugal, between the Minho and Douro rivers. Braga is the capital. This region was settled by the Celts, who left many hill forts, and by the Romans. Geological faults traverse the area. Countertops in marble and granite for kitchens and bathrooms, as well as stone cladding and facings. www.stones-world.com CORK Corticeira Amorim Industria Major supplier of cork underlays to reduce sound transmission. www.cai.amorin.com Manuel Joaquim Orvalho Cork flooring products and accessories. www.mjo.pt METAL Senda Stainless-steel sanitary systems. www.senda.pt GENERAL INFORMATION Icep Portugal Portuguese trade office. www.portugalinbusiness.com |
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