Mosaics on the Move
Miami Structures Are Committing to the Art of Bisazza Tile

Mosaic is a big commitment for a client. “It’s not like paint or wallpaper, which can be switched easily and frequently.”

[Bacardi building] Biscayne Boulevard’s Bacardi building is a notable example of animating architecture through mosaic. Photo by Robin Hill

By Michelle Weinberg

Miami’s cityscape has earned landmark status for its signature Miami Modernist and Art Deco-era architectures, a hybrid of international art deco motifs customized with a tropical palette. These architectural styles have enabled Miami Beach to enjoy its fantasy of the American Riviera, luxurious and fanciful as its inhabitants. Animated, decorative skins for building façades have a precedent here, most notably the Bacardi building on Biscayne Boulevard. Aside from providing graphic and textural interest to a building surface, mosaic imagery stimulates the imagination and injects any space with a celebratory energy, evoking “oohs and aahs.” An art material that has adorned surfaces since the ancient Roman era, the hand-crafted tesserae of mosaic appeal to the human eye and hand, rendering any surface jewel-like, filled with movement. The appearance of high-profile projects incorporating mosaic in Miami suggests that decoration, pattern and color are once again being embraced in the austere communities of architecture and design. No longer disparaged as veneers that obscure the elemental form of a structure, mosaic applications are being used to extend the rhythmic aspects of a building’s design, and invite the public to participate imaginatively in the space created by the architect. With a glamorous ad campaign in major home design magazines, participation of designers such as Marcel Wanders and Adam Tihany, and bustling business in hotel, spa and public venues, Italian mosaic company Bisazza is experiencing a breakout moment. With a U.S. headquarters here in Miami, it’s an obvious marriage.

Miami architect Rene Gonzalez’s bamboo mosaic of Bisazza tile covers the façade of the Cisneros Fontanals Foundation building.

Miami architect Rene Gonzalez approached the façade of the Cisneros Fontanals Foundation building with the intention to inject something lush and green into an otherwise gritty, derelict neighborhood, at the intersection of North Miami Avenue and 14th Street. He cited an excellent working relationship with Bisazza, the permanence and low maintenance factor of glass mosaic, and Bisazza’s ability to deliver superior product within a tight time constraint. After considering several other surface treatments, such as mirrors and actual plant material, that would add an element of movement and life to the exterior, Gonzalez hit upon the idea to interpret bamboo imagery in glass mosaic. The modular condition of the Venetian glass square tiles produced by Bisazza enables a pattern to be read on many scales simultaneously. The thousands of square tiles that assemble the total image resemble the pixilated breakdown of an image on a computer screen. “This fact keeps the pattern dynamic, never fixed, able to be read differently from different distances and vantage points,” says Gonzalez. “We wanted the building façade to remain interesting over a long period of time. We were after a timeless quality which would make you want to return again and again.” The success of the CIFO project led Gonzalez to create two new patterns for Bisazza. “Black Bamboo” is a brown field with light-color bamboo stalks, and “White Bamboo” has a white field with white and gold bamboo stalks. Equally illustrative of the bamboo plants that inspired them, and also abstract and geometric, Gonzalez envisions these mosaic patterns installed in residential interiors and exteriors. Mosaic is a big commitment for a client. “It’s not like paint or wallpaper, which can be switched easily and frequently,” he says. “Mosaic is elegant, luxurious and at the same time always feels fresh and new, and these patterns have to be something you’ll want to live with a long time.”

Another striking contribution to the visual landscape of Miami is Cure & Penabad’s design for the Loggia of DACRA’s newest project, Oak Plaza, located in the Design District. In this case, an entirely new pedestrian and business area has been designated, with the brilliant blue and green glass Bisazza tiles providing the lure. The façade of the building forms a glistening backdrop to the daily events that will take place in the plaza. Like a stage set, the decorated façade practically sings for human activity. 

Architect Carie Penabad, one half of the design team that created the Plaza explained that their intention was to create “architecture of display” in harmony with the purpose of the Design District’s many showrooms. The mosaic design motif is reminiscent of Matisse paper cutouts in its simplicity and its abstraction of natural forms. Again, plant forms — in this case, giant leaf shapes — grow up the walls, reinforcing the concept of shade and greenery flanking the open plaza. Penabad related that travels in Thailand inspired her and Adib Cure to select mosaic cladding for the building.

“Bangkok enjoys a similar climate as Miami, and there we saw buildings in religious precincts with glass mosaic facades looking as brilliant today as they did hundreds of years ago when they were installed. The color and resilience makes it practical, and the small size of the Bisazza tile enables the pattern to move beyond a fixed dimension. Bisazza’s recommendation to use a turquoise grout makes the color appear that much more vibrant.” 

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