Born into a family of ceramists in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, Massimo Orsini started handling clay as a child. In the early 2000s, he acquired Mutina—a once-traditional tile factory housed in a 1970s Angelo Mangiarotti–designed building on the outskirts of Modena. From making tiles consisting of thousands of hand-arranged mosaic pieces to designing 3-D terra-cotta bricks that double as room dividers, Mutina has quickly established a niche for itself at the intersection of contemporary art and interior design. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Two Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Design Issue 41 Tile Making in Mallorca Biel Huguet charts the history of his island in colorful cement. Design Partnerships Issue 39 Nathalie Du Pasquier An interview with the painter turned tile designer. Design Issue 34 Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer Copenhagen’s queen of color makes the case for “weird” shades and dark rooms. Design Issue 51 John Pawson From the king of minimalism: “I find the essential and get the design down to a point where you can’t add or subtract from it.” Design Interiors Issue 51 Axel Vervoordt Inside the world of Axel Vervoordt. Design Issue 51 Inga Sempé “Minimalism is boring as hell, and on top of that, it’s preachy.”
Arts & Culture Design Issue 41 Tile Making in Mallorca Biel Huguet charts the history of his island in colorful cement.
Design Partnerships Issue 39 Nathalie Du Pasquier An interview with the painter turned tile designer.
Design Issue 34 Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer Copenhagen’s queen of color makes the case for “weird” shades and dark rooms.
Design Issue 51 John Pawson From the king of minimalism: “I find the essential and get the design down to a point where you can’t add or subtract from it.”
