With more than 81,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors, the 29th edition of Cersaie, held in Bologna, Italy, from September 20 to 24, 2011 featured an extensive variety of tile products, including collections with nature-mimicking designs such as wood, leaves and flowers, as well as large-format styles in updated colors and unexpected textures.

The expansive show floor not only showcased everything from micro-mosaics to slim tiles to monolithic porcelain slabs, but also brought to light the sustainability efforts put in place by dozens of manufacturers, including increased usage of recycled content, reuse of sludge and water in the manufacturing process and utilizing locally sourced materials, to name a few. Additionally, newly released collections ran the color spectrum from muted whites, shades of grays, Mediterranean-inspired cobalt blues and natural terracotta. In terms of tactility, the textures varied from concrete-like surfaces; silky, smooth glass; mixed materials; and the surprising, such as the underside of pressed tile.