Coverings 2000 in Orlando, FL is the place to be for the latest innovations in ceramic tile installation. During the event, top honors in the 2000 Spectrum International Ceramic Tile Design Competition were presented to a broad range of cutting-edge projects from around the world.

Each year, the Spectrum awards attract global interest for creative excellence in ceramic design. Juries of architects, designers and journalists review the entries and select the winners. This year, winners were announced at Coverings 2000, the largest ceramic and stone trade show in the United States.

The collaborative artist team of Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan of Watertown, MA won the Spectrum Grand Prize for the four-section, 99-color porcelain tile mosaic mural designed and produced for Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA. The mural represents a snapshot of contemporary high school life, depicted in tile for perpetuity. The tile used in the project was supplied by: Dal Tile, American Olean Division, Olean, NY; Dal Tile, Dallas; Windburn Tile, Little Rock, AK; and Briare Tile of Paris, France and Hicksville, NY. Portland, OR-based Roedel Tile and Ceramics Grinding of Waltham, MA were the ceramic tile contractors.

Commercial First Prize

The Spectrum Commercial First Prize went to Buchtal Corp. for the new IMAX Theater (photo 1) in Berlin, Germany. Constructed in the shape of an egg, the structure’s 22,000-square-foot outside wall is covered entirely in ceramic tiles — 1,703 of them, to be exact. In order to match the theater’s shape, each panel curves in two directions. A special glaze developed specifically for the project gives the tile — and the theater — a dramatic luminescence. Berlin-based Drees&Sommer served as the ceramic tile contractor on the installation.

Commercial Award of Merit

Ceramica Casalgrande Padana of Casalgrande, Italy, was the recipient of the Spectrum Commercial Award of Merit for the company’s Bloomfields Shopping Center (photo 2) in Dublin, Ireland. The company produced waterjet-cut tile in a sophisticated Celtic design evocative of Ireland’s rich tradition of prehistoric civilization. Ferguson and Wheeler of Belfast designed the project and Lomac Tiles of Belfast served as the ceramic tile distributor.

First Prize: Residential

In the Residential Category, The Spectrum First Prize is the property of Agape Tile of Fort Myers, FL for a customized mural depicting, in exquisite detail, the client’s favorite piece of artwork, Monet’s “Lady with a Parasol” (photo 3). Each brushstroke of the original oil painting was painstakingly duplicated on the tile glaze by artists Stephanie Dittrick and Candace MacNutt of Agape. The project was part of a bath remodeling job managed by John Hargraeves of Southwest Tile & Design in Sarasota, FL. The contractor was Michael Graham, also of Sarasota.

Residential Award of Merit

The Spectrum Residential Award of Merit was captured by Eco Ceramica of San Antonino Casalgrande, Italy. The project features the company’s hand-made Michelangelo series, from which intricate designs can be created that incorporate antique motifs, colors, shapes, and designs (photo 4).

Special Recognition Award

Renfrow Tile of Charlotte, NC won the Spectrum Special Recognition Award for outstanding achievements on the basis of its work at the Mother House for the United House of Prayer in Charlotte (photo 5). The project uses both ceramic tile and natural stone on floors, walls and decorative murals throughout the massive house of worship. The materials were selected specifically to reinforce the Church aesthetic in subtle shades of red, blue and white. United Building Contractors Inc. was the ceramic contractor for the project.

The Spectrum Award winners for 2001 will be announced at Coverings 2001, May 20-23, in New Orleans.