Cersaie benchmark for world design

It is much more than a large event dedicated to the trade, which nevertheless remains central. It is an international space for discussion of new design trends at a global level, the place where the world of ceramics - which at least three decades ago emerged from the commodities enclosure to become a material for architecture - measures itself against all stakeholders. General contractors, archistars, buyers, interior designers, the world press. "Cersaie confirms itself as a pivotal exhibition for the transfer of the value of the excellence of our production, through the trade channel, to a multiplicity of interlocutors," says Filippo Manuzzi, chairman of the Confindustria Ceramica Promotion and Trade Fairs Commission. "We want to involve all operators in the search for the many new applications of a material that today is also the protagonist of urban furnishing," continues Manuzzi.

The 42nd edition of Cersaie, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings, returns to the halls of BolognaFiere from 22 to 26 September. Back, expanded, on 155 thousand square metres (10 thousand more than in 2024), 620 exhibitors, including 243 foreigners (39% of the total), from 29 countries. And it is back, with a broad scope, with all the strength of an event that broadens the boundaries of exploration of the use of ceramics, giving space first and foremost to the most established masters of contemporary architecture. From Elizabeth Diller, to whom we owe the lectio magistralis on 23 September (11 am, Europauditorium) to Gloria Cabral, Lina Malfona, Angela Garcia de Parades, Catarina and Rita Almada Negreiros. All - from the American Diller to the Brazilian Cabral - protagonists of "Costruire, abitare, pensare" (Building, dwelling, thinking), the cultural programme that has become a successful format for discussion and updating on the new world frontiers of design over the last fifteen years. Appointments are rounded off on 26 September, again at the Europauditorium in the Palazzo dei Congressi, by the upside-down lecture by architecture historian Fulvio Irace (11 a.m.).

"We are increasingly interested in broadening the audience of professionals involved," Manuzzi observes, "also because this further qualifies the exhibition and attracts a greater number of visitors, expected from 150 countries, also thanks to events spread out over the entire duration of the exhibition, with important appointments also scheduled in the last few days. Among the various confirmations - such as the Press Cafés, 18 meetings on specific living themes with the most important design, architecture and urban planning publications -, conferences and seminars, there are also the incoming activities that give the exhibition world status.

This is the case of Cersaie Business 2025, which this year in collaboration with Farnesina and the Italian Trade Agency is bringing two hundred specialised professionals from all continents to the show to create networking with exhibiting companies. Everything always under the banner of a general concept that, as Manuzzi observes, "links the language of design to that of ceramics", long since cleared through customs from use confined to bathrooms and kitchens. There will be space for start-ups, with an area dedicated to six young innovative companies from the world of real estate. And also for meetings with recent graduates and students from all over Italy with the second edition of the Ceramic Career Day, involving 25 companies in the sector on the hunt for talent. And there will once again be space for everything that moves around the world of laying (Hall 19). This year, then, the show has a new calling card. Architect Dario Curatolo has "reconfigured" the portico of the main entrance to the exhibition centre (Piazza della Costituzione), transforming it into a sort of art gallery, with a series of large images of ceramic products - chosen to give an account of the multiplicity and innovation of production, including sizes, colours, functionality and new technologies - accompanying operators and visitors towards the exhibition halls.

Among the novelties is the starred catering entrusted to three renowned chefs such as Gennaro Esposito (two Michelin stars, innovator of Mediterranean haute cuisine), Alberto Bettini (owner of the Amerigo restaurant, in the hills of Bologna, which boasts one star) and Massimiliano Poggi, who reinterprets the Emilian tradition. On the opening day (11.00 a.m., Palazzo dei Congressi), the inaugural conference with the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the President of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, the President of Confindustria Ceramica, Augusto Ciarrocchi and Gianpiero Calzolari, at the helm of BolognaFiere. In connection from the Expo in Osaka, the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Michele De Pascale, and Mario Vattani, Commissioner General for Italy at the Universal Exhibition. The other speakers are Tommaso Foti, Gianni Franco Papa, Marco Fortis and Matteo Zoppas.