Compatta | Pisè ghiaia

The Compatta collection by CEDIT- Ceramiche d’Italia is the outcome of a design intuition signed by Federico Peri. The designer approaches the world of ceramics for the first time by investigating the theme of “earth” in its deepest and most primitive meaning. He scans the horizon by dwelling on the undiscovered, on everything we are not trained to observe when we look at a landscape, namely, the ground we stand on, and the minerals and soils that make it up. And it is precisely on the primordial role of the earth- used to build shelters and give life to containers and vessels- that Peri focuses in order to celebrate the very vitality of the material, which is infinitely mouldable both by nature and by man.

Compatta is the perfect synthesis between traditional rammed earth craftsmanship and technological innovation. The author takes the ancient construction technique of pisé and expresses his personal interpretation of it on the large CEDIT slabs (for the first time in the 280x120cm size), designed on the natural nuances of sand, silt, clay and gravel. These surfaces establish an intimate relationship with space. They play with nature and recount its most primitive features. The appearance is deep, rough, textured, softened by three-dimensional plays of light and shadow that come to life in the decorative elements.

It is a narrative that encompasses both the past and the present, merging into one the hint of natural earth, the expressive power of the designer and the most advanced ceramic production techniques, thereby exemplifying CEDIT’s experimental spirit to perfection.

“The dialogue with Florim started several years ago with CEDIT’s invitation to try my hand at using a material that for me was as yet unexplored- ceramic. After an initial, more cognitive and formative phase, we have succeeded over the past year in developing a project that speaks of authenticity and harmony. It only took a short time to realise how the combination of creativity and industry, design and production was an opportunity to challenge limits by trying to overcome them”.- says Federico Peri

The author imprinted his own poetics on the large CEDIT slabs, telling a story of calm, peace and nature, the result of a dialogue with the company on the themes of essentiality, materiality and sincerity. “The idea of the collection is an avowed revival of the pisé technique”, he explains, “a very ancient construction method based on the overlapping of extremely compact soils that form load-bearing walls or partitions within dwellings”. Compatta- the result of different stylistic inspirations- is not limited to the classical two-dimensionality of ceramic material but is enriched with three-dimensional subjects of different sizes and shapes, which can be assembled into a mosaic on a mesh to be used sculpturally on the wall.