The terrazzo takeover
The throwback tiling technique is neither retro nor kitsch. Terrazzo is set to make a comeback in 2019 as a natty décor statement
It is fairly easy to tell how old a city building is in India — if its apartments have terrazzo flooring, it must have been around for at least a few decades. Low-maintenance, hardy and well-suited to the needs of a middle-class household, the speckled stone was the go-to flooring option for realty developers building affordable homes.
“Terrazzo was hugely popular from the 1930s to the 1960s. The whole of the Marine Drive and Oval Maidan areas of south Mumbai were covered in Bharat Flooring terrazzo then,” says Faiyaz Muktiar, CEO of Bharat Flooring & Tiles, a 95-year-old company.
Terrazzo then went hopelessly out of fashion, to be replaced by cheaper, mass-manufactured tiles. So it’s surprising to see the design style topping the summer interior design trends of 2019 – not only as flooring but also in place of wallpaper, inside bathtubs and washbasins, atop furniture, cabinet, doorknobs and even cellphone covers.
Modern Indian décor labels such as Vaishnavipratima are offering marmore tables with criss-cross brass legs and a terrazzo top.
“The versatility and visual appeal of terrazzo are immense. It offers great contrast to a design, whether used on the floor or kitchen counter. Variations we now see in terrazzo in terms of colours, materials infused and texture have grown too,” says Vaishnavipratima, the interior designer behind the label.
When it comes to flooring, Faiyaz adds, the trend is tessellated terrazzo floors. There are new sustainable innovations in terrazzo technology that incorporate a cement base with crushed coloured glass or upcycled plas- tic. “There’s just so much you can do with it,” he says.
THE TERRAZZO TALE
An import, terrazzo is yet another post-colonial remnant. Mosaic artisans in 15th century Venice apparently came up with the technique by accident — they swept waste marble chips out onto their terraces — called terrazzi — then smoothened the surface by walking over them.
The pressed chips formed a kaleidoscope on the floor, inspiring the artisans to set it in a more permanent clay base. La French Studio now has a Bombay Terrazzi sofa that was cast using terrazzo slabs.
“The sofa is soft because we used the curved lines for the armrests and back support. We channeled period Art Deco Bombay homes from the 1920s and 1930’s to create this piece, “say Guilhome laume Dastros, who set up and runs the Mumbai design studio with his wife, Amandine Shira.
If the mosaic pattern is too loud for your tastes, Nappa Dori’s Le Corbusier-inspired desktop collection is subtle and sophisticated. “Our Terrazo Desk Collection consists of sculptural objects embracing a concrete vocabulary, adding a raw aesthetic to everyday organising.
“Minute textures conceal the imperfections of concrete, while exploring simple volumetric shapes of dual-tone terrazzo flooring design, extended to this desktop collection,” says founder Gautam Sinha.
Surface applications and artsy wall murals allow homeowners creative expression, and Faiyaz believes that’s why terrazzo has made such a successful comeback. “Most of the terrazzo requirements or concepts that come to Bharat Flooring are about product customisation,” he adds. “You can choose marble and even semi-precious stones to create a kaleidoscopic mosaic that has a soft and natural glow.”