Terrazzo, the story of a timeless beauty
Terrazzo is more than just a flooring material. It’s a design aesthetic with a long history, that still retains a unique influence today.
DESIGN TRENDS
Terrazzo is one of the most traditional surface finishes, already going as far back as the ancient Romans and Greeks. For centuries, terrazzo was seen as one of the most renowned and luxurious floorings with an extremely durable character.
A timeless beauty
Terrazzo, as we know it today, finds its roots in Venice where artisans used discarded chips from marbled slabs and embedded them into a concrete mixture. The surface was then ground, which resulted in a smooth decorated surface used to create terraces, hence the term 'terrazzo'.
By using dividers between different coloured terrazzo mixtures, an endless variety of patterns could be made. This technique allowed designers to create unique terrazzo designs. Exemplary are the 18th-century Italian architectural buildings, showing beautiful inlays in a diversity of surfaces.
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As the terrazzo technology progressed, new design features were offered. Extra metallic divider strips allowed artists to create impressive patterns in either straight or curved lines, as is very characteristic for the famous Art-Deco buildings in the 1920s.
In the 80's the Italian Memphis design group transformed terrazzo patterns into colourful, happy geometrics that were instantly recognizable.
Nowadays these designs are undergoing a real revival and inspire many designers not only in flooring but also in fashion, wallpaper, fabrics, and stationary articles; suddenly we see terrazzo everywhere.
Always on trend
The latest development in terrazzo derives from a trend that started popping up in the hospitality and leisure industry. Compared to the classic terrazzo recent designs play with colour and scale and have a more abstract and geometric appearance, often with a contemporary twist. The patterns are bold, vibrant, and extremely outspoken and show bright and colourful particles in a solid background.
This trend has inspired the Forbo Design team to develop a new series of terrazzo visuals that explore the endless possibilities of our digital print technology.
Terrazzo & Forbo Flooring, a perfect match
Forbo Flooring Systems has a long and extensive history regarding collections in which visuals of natural stone, granite, marble, and terrazzo form a significant part of the total design offer.
In our Vinyl sheet collections, a series of visuals with a stone look is offered. These are patterns that are easy to apply on larger surfaces and while installed look exceptionally convincing compared to original stone floors.
The Eternal and Sarlon collections have small chip particles in glitter and gold which are scattered into the surface of the product, giving it an extra dimension and luxurious sensation.
The solid look and feel of a stony or terrazzo surface of our acoustic Sarlon ranges creates a nice contrast with the acoustic properties and softness of this product.
With its sophisticated colour blends, our Sphera homogeneous Vinyl collections associate strongly with a luxurious stone and granite look.
The terrazzo designs of our modular collections, such as Allura LVT, offer a large variety of possibilities to play with floor patterns within a space and to create different zones. The various designs can be easily mixed and matched, enabling the end-user to develop a specific floor pattern that suits the space and answers a specific need.
True design statements with terrazzo can be realised with our in-house pro-cutting technology. Check out some of our tailor made solutions in linoleum.
Three new terrazzo designs
The diversity of our collections is fully explored by translating them into various terrazzo designs. Three mood boards provide inspiration for combining different patterns throughout our product categories.
Our terrazzo design collection is now available in our digital library. The library provides visual inspiration for our digitally printed sheet products Eternal and Flotex.
Terrazzo Large
A monumental graphical pattern with large colourful flakes of marble, placed into a contrasting light background that is covered with a subtle layer of tiny particles. Available only in vinyl.
Terrazzo Artificial
A collage-like terrazzo pattern with candy-coloured shapes placed in a dark background creating a playful lively visual with a contemporary feel. Available only in vinyl.
Terrazzo XXL
An oversized pattern composed out of irregular shapes and geometrical circles placed in a contrasting light background. With marbled and granite textures in natural tones. Available in vinyl and Flotex.
