To celebrate the opening of its first UK showroom in London’s Clerkenwell, Iris Ceramica Group commissioned food design studio Blanch & Shock to translate the current inspiration of some of the city’s most forward-thinking creative practices into canapés. Chosen for being forerunners when it comes to innovation, beauty and sustainability – the key themes that underpin the Iris Ceramica Group – the unusual appetisers were made in honour of Mamou-Mani Ltd, Brodie Neill, Paul Cocksedge, Marlene Huissoud and Jump Studios.
The three-storey London flagship marks a major milestone for the 60-year-old Italian tile maker, which makes and distributes high-quality porcelain products for residential, commercial and industrial architecture all over the world. A family-run business, Iris Ceramica was founded in northern Italy by Romano Minozzi in 1961 and is currently led by his daughter Federica who is the CEO of the Group.
In the showroom, the first floor features a co-working space and meeting rooms, the ground floor is a lounge and kitchen, and the basement is a spa. Every surface is ceramic, while brands featured include Ariostea, FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti, Fiandre Architectural Surfaces, Iris Ceramica, SapienStone and Porcelaingres.
Paul Cocksedge’s cherry tomato
‘London is the creative capital of the world and we have wanted to have a showroom here for many years,’ says Minozzi, who goes on to explain that it was difficult to find and secure the right space. ‘But now we have found it.’ For Minozzi it is also important that they use the space to help build connections among the design and architecture community in the city, and she hopes people will feel ‘welcome to come and use the space to work from, to have ideas in and to collaborate.’
To inform Blanch & Shock’s’ canapés, the chosen design studios each submitted colour palettes and images referencing places or environments, shapes and lines, architectural details, concepts, pattern, textures and materials that are currently inspiring their practice. Iris Ceramica Group then followed each ‘from wish to dish’ and served the final output to guests at the launch event. This included insect nests fashioned from goats cheese, vacuum-compressed kohlrabi, bee pollen and more.
Mamou-Mani Ltd’s baked lotus root
Marlene Huissoud’s Whipped Goats Cheese
Jump Studios’s prawn
INFORMATION
irisceramicagroup.com
-
These micro-architectures on a Beirut rooftop invite you to experience summer in the city'Pretend it's a Pool' by Nathalie Harb at Beirut Art Center (until 20 September 2025)
-
Paul McCartney’s backstage photographs of Beatlemania, formerly presumed lost, will go on show in LondonThe Gagosian exhibition ‘Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris’ also offers the chance to acquire rare and signed photographs from McCartney’s archive
-
Orlando Museum of Art wants to showcase more Latin American and Hispanic artists. Do you fit the bill?The Florida gallery calls for for Hispanic and Latin American artists to submit their work for an ongoing exhibition
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in designCurator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
-
Malta’s London Design Biennale installation ‘reclaims death as a moment of reflection, not fear’Wallpaper* speaks with Andrew Borg Wirth, curator of Malta's installation, ‘URNA’, which reimagines cremation rituals
-
11 things that caught our eye at Clerkenwell Design Week 2025The Wallpaper* team bring you highlights from London’s Clerkenwell Design Week (20-22 May) – from public installations to product launches and a biscuit bar
