Dezeen Magazine

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

Barber and Osgerby draw on the colours of London for tile range

Clerkenwell Design Week 2014: London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby used patterns and colours found in the infrastructure of their home city to develop this range of tiles for UK brand Domus.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

"The collection has been inspired by London, the city where we live and work, its great variety of textures, such as aged bricks and wooden floors, and its irregular patterns made by imperfect geometric modules," said Barber and Osgerby.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

Echoing the shape of masonry and wooden tiling found in London's older buildings, the Mews tiles can be used to mimic brickwork and herringbone parquet.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

To create the collection for Domus, the duo worked with Italian ceramics brand Mutina, which produces the tiles industrially from glazed porcelain stoneware.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

Six neutral greys ranging from light to dark form the base palette of the range and are taken from colours found in common materials, weather and fauna around the British capital.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

The chalk, fog, pigeon, lead, ink and soot base colours each come in 15 different tones. When used in combination, the shades create subtle variation across a large surface.

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

"We have longstanding interests in colour and tonal composition," said Barber. "For our collection, instead of producing one colour that is homogenous – we have selected one base colour and created a palette of many shades."

Barber and Osgerby capture textures of urban London for tile range

The range will be displayed the Domus showroom on Great Sutton Street during Clerkenwell Design Week, which runs until 22 May.