Finicibec names Quinquennial Tile Award winners

First Place winner: SPA Kempinsky Hotel - West Bay of Doha (Qatar)
Prize awarded to: Murtada Al Masri
Reason: "The articulation of architectural volumes, the abundance in light and reflections, the variety of sizes andapplications enhance the features of the ceramic product that, created with this vocation, boasts all itsbrightness in the large and perfectly square tiles."
Materials: Naxos, series Marble Hill, colour Sculptur, sizes 32.5x97.7 - 32.5x32.5; band Black Hill32.5x97.7; series Kilim, band Shahrazard 32.5x65.

Third Place: MonoBathRoom, Warsaw (Poland)
Prize awarded to: Marek Kostykiewicz
Reason: The design of water flowing in essential lines, going over the geometry of the ceramic material, in the elegance of its minimal expressiveness.
Materials: Monocibec, series M.ono, color Graphite Metal, size 25x50.

Winners of the first edition of The Quinquennial Tile Award, the international award for living spaces creators devised by the Fincibec Group, have been announced.

The jury, composed of five experts in the field of ceramic, design and architecture, assessed all entries for the criteria of having been completed between 2005 and 2009, and the use of ceramic materials from the Group’s three brands: Monocibec, Century and Naxos.

First place went to the creators of the spa area found in the Kempinsky Hotel - West Bay of Doha (Qatar). "The articulation of architectural volumes, the abundance in light and reflections, the variety of sizes and applications enhance the features of the ceramic product that, created with this vocation, boasts all its brightness in the large and perfectly square tiles," the jury noted.

Second place was awarded to Villa Ghilardi, San Nazzario Sesia (Novara, Italy), by architect Nicola Ghilardi. In this case, the jury said it considered "the interpretation of the product, in its rough stone characteristics, as opposed to the rigor of the architectural lines, applied with several sizes, expresses in the best way the creative potential and the multiple use possibilities of this material."

Also receiving honors were:

Third place: MonoBathRoom, Warsaw (Poland)
Fourth place: Mediateka Mokra, Horakov (Czech Republic)
Fifth place: Contrada della Giraffa, Siena (Italy).

The jury was composed by Vittorio Borelli, managing director of Fincibec Group, Aldo Colonnetti, scientific chief of the European Design Institute, Raffaella Mantovani, architect and marketing manager of Finibec Group, Alessandro Lolli, managing director of Ottagono magazine and Sofia Cortellini Klein, managing director of KleinRusso.

The winner will receive a trip for a value of 10,000 € (approx. $12,580US) to an architectural capital to be chosen among Berlin, New York and Dubai. Second to fifth place winners will receive a special prize designed Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni valued at 2,000 € (approx. $2,515US).

The official awards presentation will take place during Cersaie 2010 in Bologna, Italy.

For more information about the award and the awardees, visit www.tileaward.org.