NEW YORK, NY--The Italian ceramic tile industry sees every tradeshow as an opportunity to work with great designers to show off the potential of the material. For the North American market, Coverings is the show when the entire tile industry comes together and the Italians host thousands of guests at a bustling 3000-square-foot exhibit in the heart of an Italian pavilion. This fall, Confindustria Ceramica, the Association of Italian Ceramics, has joined forces with Architizer, a dynamic online community, to find the next designer of the Ceramic Tiles of Italy Coverings Exhibit. Interested architects are asked to submit projects online. The winning team will receive a $25,000 prize package.

This new exhibit will join a stellar line-up of innovative tile pavilions. Since 1991, Italian tile has called on architects from prominent studios to create an exhibit that does not only inspire, but serves the very functional purposes of reception, info point, café and trattoria.  Past exhibits have been created by design luminaries such as Stanley Tigermann, Arquitectonica, Aldo Rossi, Gaetano Pesce, James Wines SITE, Bernard Tschumi, Mitchell Mauk and Michael P. Johnson. 

Located in the heart of the Italian Pavilion and helping to promote innovative applications, tiles can be installed on the floors, walls and on any surface that can be covered. While architects are permitted relatively free artistic reign, the exhibit design should incorporate a restaurant and café where the Pavilion's long-running Italian culinary team will serve pasta and other authentic Italian refreshments every day of the show. Additionally, it should include space for an information desk where visitors can find the most up-to-date publications on the industry. And finally, the exhibit will need to be built to budget and have re-usable components in order to respect the Italian tile industry's commitment to sustainability.

Submissions will be judged by representatives of Confindustria Ceramica as well as and an advisory committee of previous exhibit architects, including: Bernard Tschumi, Laurinda Spear and Michael P. Johnson. One winner will receive a $10,000 design fee and a $15,000 Project Management Fee to oversee fabrication and installation of the pavilion at Coverings 2012. A runner-up will also be awarded $1,500. The deadline for submission is October 3, 2011.

For complete details visit www.architizer.com/en_us/competitions/ceramics-of-italy/