Terrazzo

Terrazzo is a fresh style that jumped from ancient Egypt to Italy and to America around the 1920s, at the time where art deco was flourishing. The walk of fame in Hollywood is terrazzo tile.

It is a material that can be formed with a base of cement (more recently epoxy resin). It contains chips of components such as marble, granite or tile, which are either added after the material has been poured or combined in. It is a more sporadic version of mosaic and also quite delicate, a bit like paint splattered pattern, erratic but wonderful. In Italy the remnant pieces of mosaics were swept up into a pile and from people walking on it and over time, became smooth.

I think that it is similar to marble with the random form of the material, something almost natural about it. Relating the surface to nature because in nature, everything is slightly odd and messy but precisely planned and beautiful at the same time. ‘Everything is as it should be’.

I like how you can make a statement with large pieces through the terrazzo, or go quite understated and muted, to let the features in the room take the stand. I think if you were to use the big pattern as well as a lot of bold colours, you would be verging on maximalism which can work if the right colours are used. There was a post about terrazzo with copper through it instead of little chips of quartz or granite and I think using metals through the concrete base can be very classy and elegant.

The art deco references are quite quirky and I think terrazzo on the walls or floors would work well with neon. Some of the pictures from these boards show the scale at which terrazzo is made. In this restaurant, the spacing is very large and creates an almost Nordic minimalist style. The dark terrazzo however has a less fresh appearance and more hygge and cosy.

I think Terrazzo will be around for a while much like marble has stuck for several years. Something so individual about it.