Coverings on the starting blocks

Mar 31, 2006

31/03/06 - Just a few days are left before the symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony that will mark the official opening of Coverings, the most important exhibition of ceramic tiles and natural stone in the Americas, to be held in Orlando from 4 to 7 April.

Over 100,000 sq.m of the city’s exhibition centre will be filled by the 1,200 plus exhibitors from more than 56 countries who have chosen Coverings to showcase their products to the high-quality visitors at the show, who are expected to number more than 32,000.

As usual there will be country pavilions organised by the leading producer countries, including Italy, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, China and Portugal. Two of the largest groups are those of the Italian and Spanish producers with 90 and 77 companies respectively.

In particular Italy will take centre stage on the opening day. On Tuesday afternoon there will be the International Press Conference organised by Assopiastrelle, during which the association’s Chairman Alfonso Panzani, Vice Chairman Enzo Mularoni, Director General Franco Vantaggi and newly appointed Director of the ICE’s New York branch Aniello Musella will address themes such as the presence of Italian companies in the United States, the importance of promotional activities and the support given to exporting companies by the country’s production system as a whole.
The conference will also see the presentation of the Ceramic Tiles of Italy Design Award 2006, the award granted to three North American architects for the best commercial, residential and institutional projects featuring the use of Italian ceramic tiles.
The fifteenth Assopiastrelle American Distributor Award for distributors who have excelled in their relationship with the Italian tile industry will be presented on the evening of 5 April during a cocktail party in the Italian Pavilion.

As is customary, Coverings will offer a packed calendar of conferences and seminars led by leading professionals and industry experts.
These include addresses (in the case of the inaugural session, sponsored by Ceramic Tiles of Italy) by architects Ron Jones and Sara Gutterman on the concept of green building, Arturo Mastelli on the increasingly frequent use of ceramic tiles for cladding vertical walls, and Donato Grosser, the Association’s consultant for the US market, on “The future of U.S. ceramic tile distribution: what can we predict”.