Marazzi Ceramiche is founded in 1935 at Sassuolo, near Modena in Italy.

It is said that the firm’s founder Filippo Marazzi built his first production plant using two parallel rows of poplar trees to support it, creating what was to become known as the “cardboard factory” due to its flimsy structure.

Decoration for stencil tile

It was in the ‘50s that Marazzi saw its first major expansion, thanks to large investments in new technologies such as “tunnel kilns”.

Outside view of the Marazzi factory

Advertising poster for the first 2×2 cm porcelain stoneware dot tiles

The first hand-decorated floor tiles stem from the partnership with Venerio Martini, world-renowned painter and ceramist from Sassuolo.

The first “four curve tile”, designed by Gio Ponti and Alberto Rosselli, is presented at the Milan Triennale in 1960. It marks the first, outstanding partnership between design and ceramic coverings.

Frames from storyboard no. 2 of Marazzi’s 1964 commercial, intended to promote colourful, glossy, easy-clean decorated white-body wall tiles and floor tiles.

During the ‘60s, Marazzi introduces new decorative and communicative languages into its product range.

Biki, Forquet and Paco Rabanne styled the Alta Moda collection for Marazzi. It is the first association between haute couture designers and the ceramics industry.

In 1974 Marazzi patents rapid single-firing: the simultaneous firing of the tile body and the finishing glaze cuts production times and redefines the image and intended uses of ceramic tiles themselves.

At a time of wide-ranging experimentation and major technical innovations, for Marazzi Nino Caruso explores the three-dimensional potential of ceramic tiles in the modular sizes of the Marazzi Forme collection.

The first 60×60 cm stoneware tiles are created in the Marazzi laboratories

Michelangelo 3

Gianni Berengo Gardin photographs the new Marazzi production lines

Large new production plants are established abroad; at Castellón de la Plana, in the Spanish ceramics district, and American Marazzi Tile at Dallas, in Texas.

Marazzi offers an extensive assortment of colours in the form of coloured modules for mixing and matching.

Photographers Charles Traub, Luigi Ghirri and Cuchi White interpret the new Marazzi collections

1985 sees the launch and patenting of “Enduro”, involving the introduction of special production lines where the tiles are glazed halfway along the kiln, while still red-hot, for immediate fixing and integration of the vitreous coating. An original, exclusive product, which once again changed the potential uses of ceramic coverings.

Together with artists, designers and potters, Roger Capron, Amleto Dalla Costa and Saruka Nagasawa experiment with new applications and decorative techniques in the Il Crogiuolo R&D centre.

New markets, new plants and unusual applications for ceramic tiles. The product range is extended with original solutions for the construction of ventilated curtain walls and raised floors.

Thanks to the I Colori modules by Marazzi, during the Italia ‘90 Soccer World Cup an ordinary water tower in Milan becomes the Torre Arcobaleno, or “Rainbow Tower”. In 2015 the Tower undergoes a second restyling, using the different shades of the SistemC Città collection, by the same creative team as a tribute to Milan and the millions of visitors to Expo 2015.

Ceramic tiles are used to cover the external walls of the three buildings of the Paul L. Cejas School of Architecture in Miami, designed by the architect Bernard Tschumi.

The design for the Wilkinson Office And Warehouse Buildings, built in Phoenix (USA), wins the prestigious Ceramics Tiles of Italy Design Competition 2005 for the “commercial architecture” category. Marazzi created its façade using 60×60 cm porcelain stoneware slabs from the SistemT – Cromie collection.

Aldo Cibic designs the bench that makes adults feel like children for the Triennale Gardens in Milan.

Elliott Erwitt and Goettsche create the Marazzi “We Design the World” advertising campaigns

An innovative, flexible technology for products of exceptional beauty and technical quality. A totally innovative production cycle with a continuous, highly flexible process not only able to produce a variety of product types, sizes and thicknesses but also to improve ceramic slabs’ geometrical precision.
Ph. Giuliano Koren

The hotel towers designed by Dominique Perrault create unusual abstract effects thanks to a reflective skin produced by Marazzi

A new stoneware of amazing appearance and quality reinterprets the finest varieties of natural wood and becomes a best-seller.

The Marazzi laboratories create the first lightweight wall covering in the large 32.5×97.7 size.

Treverkhome, the flawless imitation of the choicest woods.
Ph. Andrea Ferrari

Soho, the first three-dimensional stoneware decor tile, receives an Honourable Mention at the ADI [Italian Design Association] Compasso d’Oro awards – the most highly-prized accolade in the design sector – and is added to the Compasso d’Oro Award Historic Collection.

Stone inspiration for a collection of hyper-materials that combine the best performances with unusual surface effects.

Marazzi celebrates 80 years of age.

Marazzi’s eco-sustainable tiles were installed in over 10 areas of the Universal Exhibition in Milan, including Palazzo Italia – designed by Nemesi & Partners-, the USA Pavilion – designed by architect James Biber – and the Decumano and the Cardo, the two main thoroughfares of the Expo.

To mark the Group’s 80th anniversary the Sassuolo headquarters underwent major refurbishment and renovation work. Based on a project by architect Gianluca Rossi, this involved all the buildings on Viale Regina Pacis, the company’s historic site, with the office building and the new Marazzi showroom.

The new Fiorano Modenese plant was inaugurated in the presence of leading politicians. The design of the new plants prioritises environmental impact as well as working conditions and safety, including a cogeneration plant, heat recovery and water recycling systems and leading-edge safety systems.

Winner of the 2015 Ceramics Design Award presented by ADI – the Italian Design Association – thanks to the 3D decoration created on a thickness of just 6 mm, the Materika collection presents concrete in its most elegant form and in the prestigious new 40×120 cm size.

The deep colours of the custom-produced SistemA crystallised stoneware for Salerno Maritime Station designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Like an oyster, between land and sea, with a hard shell that comes to life in the sunlight thanks to a unique crystallised stoneware.

Opening of the new facilities of the Finale Emilia plant, struck by the 2012 earthquake, in accordance with the strictest earthquake safety regulations and with double the production capacity in comparison to its environmental emissions.

Inspired by concrete and distinctive for the soft and harmonious nuances of its surface patterning, the Powder porcelain stoneware collection wins the Best of Category by Archiproducts Design Award. Delicate colour variations emphasise the originality of the material, highlighting its imperfections in the large new 75×150 cm size.

Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel
Cascina Merlata is the eco-sustainable social housing project designed by Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel in Milan.  The stars are the Marazzi stoneware ventilated walls – SistemN and Mystone Gris Fleury – and the renewable sources for buildings, the solutions for creating healthy and safe environments

Design by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel
The Cortile della Farmacia (Courtyard of the Pharmacy) of Milan University, as part of the Interni Material Immaterial exhibition, and the Marazzi showroom on Via Borgogna, display Marazzi porcelain stoneware produced ad hoc for the Augmented Surface project using an innovative surface treatment.

Marazzi opens its first showroom in London, at the centre of an internationally-renowned hotbed of design and creativity. The 300 m2 space in St. John Street was designed by Italian architects Lorenzo Baldini and Antonio Pisano, founders of the Marcel Mauer practice of London.

For Marazzi, Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel design Grand Carpet, the new large size 120×240 cm stoneware, which combines Oriental carpet decorations with the Kolam tradition.
Produced in 6 different modules and two extremely sophisticated colours, the collection won the 2017 Archiproducts Design Award.

A 3-storey space, located at 63 Boulevard Saint-Germain in the V arrondissement, which preserves the historic and cultural legacy of the Haussmann building while harmoniously showcasing the latest Marazzi ceramic and stoneware solutions.

The showroom in the Ochota district – one of the most dynamic and up-and-coming areas in the Polish capital – was designed to present the many Marazzi brand solutions available in terms of top-quality materials and cutting-edge creativity.

Grand Carpet and the Grande collection in an extra-large size are the stars of the space designed by Matteo Cibic and Studio Blanco: The Tile Club, a gentlemen’s club in the heart of Milan’s San Babila district for ceramic enthusiasts, developed during the Salone del Mobile.

Studio Peregalli
The iconic Triennale four curve tile designed by Gio Ponti and Alberto Rosselli for Marazzi decorates the 5 kitchens on the 5 expertly renovated floors of the Cracco restaurant in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.

Stemming from the union of two pre-existing production units, the new Marlit specialises in the production of high-quality technical porcelain stoneware.  With production lines over 1.5 km long, the plant has a capacity of around 9 million m2 a year.

The new laboratories, with an indoor area of over 3,000 m2 and 1,000 m2 outdoors with large, well-lit zones, reflect the historic corporate culture of the Marazzi Group, with its innate focus on research and innovation.

The showroom covering over 400 m2 is located at 117 Avenue Jean Jaurès in one of the city’s most dynamic, culturally vibrant and trendiest areas, a district in which all the leading international design and furnishing names represented in Lyon are concentrated.

Marazzi opens the doors of its new exhibition space in Milan. The project by Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel transforms the Via Borgogna showroom into a “Wunderkammer” of colours and materials.

The pavement along Corso Trento e Trieste in Lanciano was redesigned by taking inspiration from a number of traditional Abruzzo decorative motifs and turning them into the foundation of urban life. It was made from Marazzi double loading 20 mm SistemN porcelain stoneware in the nuances Sabbia and Grafite, cut ad hoc according to the indications of the designers.
Project: RicciSpaini Architetti Associati, architect Orazio Carpenzano

SSA and ZDA
The new Mystone Ceppo di Gré porcelain stoneware slabs were chosen for the ventilated walls of the first UpTown residences in Milan.
Developed for the project by SSA (Scandurra Studio Architettura) and Zanetti Design Architettura, they are completely carbon-free.

Adrian Samson, the world-renowned London-based photographer, reinterprets Triennale, the “four curve tile” designed by Gio Ponti and Alberto Rosselli for Marazzi in 1960. “I fell in love with the colours and patterns of these iconic tiles. I felt they were works of art. We decided not to use any additional material, but to work with just their own shapes and bodies, underlining their sensual appeal.”

Crogiolo Lume by Marazzi, the stoneware collection that reinterprets the beauty of handmade majolica tiles, has won the award for best design product in the “Finishes” category in the international competition held by Archiproducts, the architecture and design community that receives 46 million visits a year and has more than 1.7 million registered users.

The editorial team of Muuuz has selected the Carácter collection among the winners of the MIAW Design Awards for the innovative Puro Marazzi Antibacterial and StepWise technologies. In addition to its technological advantages, this collection also has a “green” soul, being produced with 40% recycled material.

Wallpaper*, the globally distributed English magazine that has been covering design, fashion, and lifestyle for 25 years and has created one of the most coveted international awards, has chosen Carácter, the new stoneware made with Puro Marazzi Antibacterial technology, among the best Italian products for its ethical characteristics and high innovative performance, awarding it the Wallpaper Design Award 2021.

It was 1975 when Ghirri first entered Marazzi: forty-six years later, this experience becomes a volume, “Luigi Ghirri. The Marazzi Years 1975-1985,” which collects a selection of 30 photographs taken by the artist during the ten years of collaboration with the company. The core of photographs is featured in the exhibitions of the same name at the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo and the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.

Crogiolo Rice, the Marazzi collection that contemporarily evokes handmade majolica bricks, wins in the Finishes category for its unique concept and representation of excellence in creativity, technology, and research.

On the occasion of the Metamorfuoco. Sotto la luce di Tintoretto exhibition, the English artist creates a large flooring in dialogue with a masterpiece by Tintoretto: modules in Marazzi’s Mystone Limestone porcelain stoneware that the artist used as a blank canvas on which he drew natural elements. About 60 decorations, each different from the other, were printed thanks to state-of-the-art digital technology.

The permanent public artwork conceived by the Catalan artist for the exterior facade of the Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia was created with thirty ceramic slabs produced at Marazzi’s facilities and mounted on a ventilated facade designed and built by Marazzi Engineering. The peacock is rendered in high-definition digital print on large thin slabs, forming a 16 x 6 meter image.

Inspired by Greek mythology, the exhibition concept of the new 400 m² Marazzi showroom in the Ampelokipoi district focuses on showcasing ceramic and porcelain stoneware products in a setup that resembles a contemporary labyrinth.

The 300 m² project on two floors, located on the central Calle Serrano, is designed by the ACPV ARCHITECTS studio Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and includes the concept The Welcoming Room, which greets visitors in a convivial kitchen environment.

Marazzi has joined the Special Register of Historic Brands of National Interest, established by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE).

The editorial team of Muuuz has selected the Crogiolo series among the winners of the MIAW Design Awards in the ‘Layout, Materials, and Coverings’ category. A special mention was given to the Confetto series, the new porcelain stoneware line with an irregular, semi-matte, and soft-to-the-touch surface.

Reply, in collaboration with the architecture and interior design studio ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, announces the launch of an experiment using Artificial Intelligence techniques for the design and creation of Marazzi ceramic tiles.

The editorial team of Muuuz has selected Slow and Crogiolo ArtCraft among the winners of the latest edition of the MIAW Design Awards. The two porcelain stoneware collections offer a new compositional language between small and large formats and the appeal of handmade craftsmanship.

The Ducal Palace of Sassuolo hosts the exhibition Gianni Berengo Gardin. Marazzi, le linee veloci, curated by Alessandra Mauro. The exhibition, which presents a selection of previously unseen photographs, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Marazzi’s revolutionary single-firing patent, which transformed the ceramics sector in 1974. A series of photographs captures the dynamism of the new production lines, distinguished by a surprising use of color.

The Slow terracotta-effect porcelain stoneware by Marazzi, made with a high percentage of recycled material – between 30-40% – is awarded for its innovative and sustainable design that combines tradition and modernity with low environmental impact materials and production techniques.

The editorial team of Muuuz has selected Crogiolo Terramater and Mystone Silver Root among the winners of the MIAW de l’Innovation 2024 award, recognizing the technical and functional qualities of the products.

400 m² over two levels host the new Marazzi space in Rome, designed by the ACPV ARCHITECTS studio Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Large windows and continuous perspectives on the interiors showcase the versatility of collections and applications, while the Marazzi Privé space evokes the atmosphere of a hotel lobby.