Story | Zu Hui Photography | Tajimi Custom Tile
David Glaettli’s career has been an interesting one, to say the least. The Zurich native’s schooling took an interdisciplinary approach, studying art, communications and Japanese—to the point that be became fluent in the language. After graduating from renowned Swiss design school ECAL, he went to Japan to be creative director of a furniture line.
Germany and Switzerland have aesthetics to match Japan’s, yet David Glaettli (pictured)chose Japan, perhaps due to an innate affiliation.
He subsequently applied his contemporary art sensibility to promote various Japanese industries on the global market. After rejuvenating an old furniture brand and winning over young consumers in the process, Glaettli turned his attention to Arita ware, making the centuries-old porcelain process hip.
The Tajimi tiles exhibition, originally planned for Milan, was ultimately held in Tokyo.
In 2019, Glaettli embarked on a new mission, helping to establish Tajimi Custom Tiles. Tajimi—a town in Gifu province blessed with mineral-rich soil and where ceramics have been made since the 16th century—is the birthplace of Japan’s best-known ceramic products, Mino ware.
Tajimi soil has been used for Mino ware for hundreds of years.
In the early 20th century, Tajimi emerged as Japan’s hub for ceramic tile, accounting for 90 per cent of the country’s production. The mesmerizing tiles covering thousands of beautiful houses in Japan are likely the products of Tajimi.
Could these quintessential Tajimi Custom Tiles prompt one to buy a classic Japanese house, just to show them off?
Could these quintessential Tajimi Custom Tiles prompt one to buy a classic Japanese house, just to show them off?
While the majority of its tile companies specialize in high-volume production of standard slates, there are a number of smaller, highlyspecialized manufacturers using a rarely seen combination of alternative production methods and traditional Japanese glazing and firing. Tajimi Custom Tiles is one such company.
It seeks to make bespoke tiles that meet the most discerning demands of architects and designers around the world. No matter what shape, size, firing, glazing, texture, colour or amount, Tajimi Custom Tiles utilizes the deft skills of its artisans and the region’s renowned pottery soil to create its custom-made tiles for delivery worldwide.
Imperfection Adds Value
Tajimi tiles are beautiful, not only because of skillful production, glazing and firing techniques, but also because they have the sophisticated unique texture of handmade artworks. The colours and textures of the finished products are not uniform, which is revered as a full expression of the Japanese aesthetic.
While most tiles in the world are made in roller kilns and look identical, as if produced in standard moulds, Tajimi tiles are made in tunnel and shuttle kilns. They give life to Japanese aesthetics, displayed in colours, textures and small variations from tile to tile. The invaluable beauty of “intentional” imperfection and the human factor in making these tiles are what make them so intriguing and so highly sought after.
Max Lamb celebrates the unique textures of Japanese ceramics with a new interpretation.
To expand Tajimi Custom Tiles’ unique creativity, Glaettli invited English designer artist Max Lamb to collaborate. Lamb, who grew up in English pottery stronghold Cornwall, hadn’t designed ceramic tiles until visiting Tajimi multiple times to get a feel for the land and the production culture there. Subsequently, he created the Working Tile collection, comprising a set of 3D ceramic tile modules that can be put together to form numerous shapes and styles.
Such a gorgeous blue.
Lamb designed vases, sofas, tables, benches and screens with these tile pieces. He used Tajimi clay and the style of morphing glazing synonymous with Tajimi to pay tribute to Japan’s longstanding ceramic artistry. He applied pressure moulding to make it possible to create super-precise 3D shapes and patterns.
Hailing from the English pottery hub of Cornwall, Max Lamb was eager to visit Japan’s ceramic centre for an exchange.
Glaettli also invited Korean designer Kwangho Lee to Tajimi. Lee, known for making woven furniture with looping patterns called Tide, got a kick out of watching soggy soil turn into tiles resembling a woven item.
