Cersaie 2016, an international showcase

Following the global success of last year’s show, where non-Italian visitors accounted for 47.4% of the total attendance of 101,809 (3.5% more than in 2014), Cersaie 2016 is once again expected to be very popular with an international public.

Due to be held in Bologna from 26 to 30 September, the show’s 156,000 square metres of floor space will host around 900 exhibitor companies from all over the world (in 2015 there were 872 exhibitors, 37% of which were foreign companies from 39 different countries).

These figures confirm Cersaie’s status as a leading event for global business development in the ceramic floor and wall tile and bathroom furnishing sectors and a powerful driver of international trade. Visitors to last year’s edition came from 170 countries, and the exhibitors’ stands received countless visits from international delegations, organised within the framework of the Cersaie Business programme in conjunction with the Italian Trade Commission ICE and the Emilia Romagna regional government.

The concept behind this 34th edition of the show is reflected in the new poster created by Silvia Spilateri, a student attending the third year of the Industrial Design course at the Polytechnic School of the University of Palermo. The image highlights the textural qualities of this industrially-made material while at the same time emphasising the role of ceramics in architecture and in a variety of habitats alongside human figures.

The events

Great architecture will once again take the spotlight at Cersaie with the Keynote Lecture given by British architect Lord Norman Foster, Pritzker Prize winner 1999.  Entitled “10 on 10: Ten Fosters and Ten others”, the lecture will be held in the Palazzo dei Congressi in the Bologna exhibition centre on Tuesday 27 September and will be introduced by architecture historian Francesco Dal Co. In his lecture, Foster will discuss 10 projects of his own and 10 carried out by other architects who have influenced him during his extraordinary career.

Once again this year the exhibition will be presenting the “Building, dwelling, thinking” programme, first launched in 2009 with the aim of promoting discussion amongst architects on the themes of sustainability and building redevelopment. One of the most eagerly anticipated events is the “Lesson in reverse” with Milanese architect Ugo La Pietra (Friday 30 September at 10 am in the Europauditorium in Palazzo dei Congressi), who will be interviewed by high school students from across the Emilia Romagna region. Ugo La Pietra has built up a reputation since the 1960s for his work in the field of conceptual art and for his significant contributions to radical architecture and design. He has won numerous awards and taken part in more than 900 personal and collective exhibitions.

One of the most important events to be held during the show is Cer-Sail Italian Style Concept. Curated by Angelo Dall’Aglio and Davide Vercelli, the event draws inspiration from the Italian Council of Ministers’ approval of a Strategic National Ports and Logistics Plan (PSNPL) aimed at improving the competitiveness of Italy’s port system and boosting growth in through-flows of goods and people by means of a rationalisation process. The project draws inspiration from classical Greek and Roman ports as places of commercial and cultural exchange and will explore new concepts intended to re-purpose and upgrade Italy’s ports. The exhibition will present the idea of a port as a living and liveable space all the year round, not just as a place that people transit through but as somewhere to go for dinner or an aperitif. Featuring surreal, ironic scenarios combined with realistic settings equipped with products and solutions from leading companies in a wide range of sectors, Cer-Sail - Italian Style Concept will occupy an extensive 1,500 square metre area in Hall 30 of the Bologna Exhibition Centre.

Now in its fifth edition, Tiling Town will be back at Cersaie in Area 49 with major initiatives running throughout the week of the show. On 27 and 28 September, 20 tile fixers from across Europe will demonstrate how to install “Thin XXL Panels”, covering aspects of handling, machining, installation and maintenance of thin extra-large panels. They will work on complex projects based on a technical drawing under the guidance and supervision of Peter Goegebeur, a Flemish master tile fixer and Chairman of the EUF Technical Commission.