TALLY FOR MUTINA, 2024
Tally is a terracotta brick created by extruding a square divided into longitudinal sections. Designed for Mutina, it is conceived as a three-dimensional reinterpretation of Fringe—the first ceramic collection designed in collaboration with them. The individual components can be assembled horizontally, vertically, or in a combination of both, generating an infinite series of unique configurations.
The name derives from “Tally marks,” a counting system that uses groups of four vertical lines crossed by a fifth diagonal line. Similarly, Tally adds predefined groups of lines to create a single arrangement, which can be extended in any direction and configuration.
The collection consists of two different bricks—one divided in two by a single line at the centre (Wide), and the other divided into four (Narrow). The outer frame of each piece is half the thickness of the lines that divide it. Thanks to this simple geometric consideration, the bricks can be arranged to create a pattern that repeats infinitely with consistent spacing.
The varying density of the lines allows for playful combinations of patterns and textures. The three-dimensional nature of the Brick causes the transparency to change as the observer moves around the structure. From a side view, the negative space disappears, and the structure “closes,” preventing light from passing through.
“Tally has the capacity to become a code, almost a script, in the way it is used. And in a sense, that’s exactly what it is: a numerical alphabet with a visual dimension.”
“It’s such a simple solution that sometimes I wonder why no one thought of it before. In seeking complexity, we often forget the simpler options that could create much more poetry in everyday life.”
“Tally is like a thread—a recurring principle in my projects, which is also the basis of Fringe. It has the same freedom of composition and creation, but in this case, one can also play with transparency.”
