Giulia’s hometown is part of the Emilian Ceramic District, an area surrounded by a significant concentration of ceramic tile manufacturers and related industries. Following the path of the ceramic tile through its extraction, creation and exportation, this research paper aims at reconstructing how Casalgrande (Italy) is connected to a multitude of places.
By elaborating an inquiry process based on interviews, field research, archiving and mapping, the developed research method seeks to eliminate the sense of estrangement between the industrial environment and the individual, in order to break down the barriers which exist among citizens, landscape and industrial chains. Each chapter delves into the description and analysis of various spatial scales, starting with an exploration of Casalgrande’s landscape and its core infrastructures, such as the factories. The focus narrows down to the ceramic tile, from which it expands beyond the boundaries of the town.

Through the process of uncovering how methods of production used for the fabrication of the ceramic tile lack transparency, both towards the buyers and the citizens, this research seeks to raise the following questions: how are individuals estranged from the environment through methods and systems of production? In which ways does globalisation affect individuals’ sense of belonging to a place? How are locally produced objects displaced from their material source?

Casalgrande becomes a laboratory of experimentation that can be read on different levels, in which the adoption of a method based on micro and macro scales of analysis, allows one to perceive landscapes and environments, as a psychoanalysis of the tile.



This research is part of The Tip of the Tongue of the Tip, a printed publication. If you have any questions or you are interested in reading the full text, please contact me.





©2024 – Giulia Braglia