Tiles that look exactly like wood

I really will not shut up about my current tile obsession: faux-wood planks. It’s getting a little embarrassing and ridiculous. But, seriously, what’s not to love? The current generation of ersatz floorboards looks exactly like wood–skinny, elongated shapes and all–yet is eons easier to maintain/keep clean than the real thing. (Sorry, wood!) The coolest ones are typically porcelain, but I also dig Ann Sacks’ Charles Stone parquet in concrete/ plaster/ polymer:

Or check out the company’s new through-body porcelain Xylem, in beach, chestnut, wenge, and ebony (pix below).

If you’re interested in learning more about the coolest tile phenomenon ever, check out the article I wrote on the topic in the last issue of SNAP, a spin-off of ArchRecord mag that’s chock-full of excellent sources and in-depth info.

Drink up the Bacardi Building’s tiled facade!

For tile lovers, a must-visit: The Bacardi Museum in downtown Miami, on Biscayne Boulevard. I make a point of driving past and ogling it whenever I’m in the city; in fact, this is a photograph by Ben Ritter, who I dragged to Miami to shoot a few projects for my tile book; I made him jump out of the car in the rain and snap it for me! (OK, I exaggerate: he actually shot from inside the car, with the window rolled down and a plastic bag over the end of his lens to keep it dry.) The sides of the concrete tower, designed by Puerto Rican architect Enrique Gutierrez in 1963 as offices for Bacardi, are tiled in a mural by Brazilian artist Francisco Brennand comprising 6-inch-square handpainted ceramics. Very Tropicalismo! Just behind it is Ignacio Carrera-Justiz’s 1973 addition, a crazy cantilevered design faced in inch-thich hammered-glass panels, based on a painting by Johannes Dietz.

I recently discovered that the museum is apparently open for tours by appointment! For more background, read this great article in Jet Set Modern mag (from which I cribbed the above info) here.

[photos: Ben Ritter]