Design references in contemporary Turkish ceramic tiles

Throughout history ceramic has always been a part of human environment, as a product of three fundamental materials, earth, water and fire. From art objects to architectural details, it has been employed for different functions in our daily life. Therefore the word ceramic is used in different contexts in different disciplines. Even the daily use of the word may have various meanings depending on the topic of conversation. The focus of this study is on tiles made from ceramic material. Ceramic tiles have been in use since the beginning of architecture. The durability of the material was discovered in early civilizations alongside with its decorative properties, making ceramic tiles a functional choice in architecture. After the Industrial Revolution, they became a fundamental material in construction and design. The new and big public spaces of the Industrial Revolution, such as train stations, was covered with ceramic tiles for both its technical and decorative advantages. Also, ceramic tiles were demanded by a new market in this period, reaching to private houses with the price advantage made possible with mass production. Ceramic tile manufacturing entered a new phase with this demand. Designers taking the scene from craftsmen, also played an important role in tile design. The collaboration of designers with the industry changed the perspective of both manufacturers and consumers. Manufacturing technologies and styles of ceramic tiles changed and improved while witnessing different eras of art and design history. While leaving the scene to new plastic based materials of the post war era, ceramic tiles have been consistently used in public and private spaces, still protecting its popularity as a solution to all kinds of design and construction problems. Today, as a result of the high demand in contemporary design scene, they are manufactured and consumed in big volumes. This kind of production brings the problem of competition along. The answer is generally different approaches to the design of the product. References in design are commonly used in order to have an edge in such a competitive market. Turkish Çini tiles has an important place in ceramic tile history. Turkish culture contributed to the development of ceramic tiles, while creating different styles both visually and technically through its history. Therefore today's Turkish Ceramic Industry benefits from a great heritage. Being one of the frontrunner ceramic industries in the global market, the problems of competition and design also become inevitable. The history which Turkish tile producers have, makes the problem of getting ahead with design, even more complicated. Turkish ceramic tiles also benefits from design references, using various sources like historical styles, local materials or traditional production techniques. The Çini tradition as a great design source arises the question of how to use it. The historical references may or may not be enough to compete in the global market. The methods of using traditional design styles may vary while the different degrees of using the reference also creates another set of design problems. Adapting heritage to new circumstances or to preserve it is also an important issue to be considered designwise, while trying to keep the competitive edge. As a result, contemporary Turkish tile designs demonstrate a wide range of different references, both locally and globally sourced. These tile designs create the main research area of this study. The main purpose of this research was to analyze the design references and understand the different methods and levels they are used in Turkish ceramic tiles. This examination endeavours to address the sources of references in contemporary Turkish tile designs in all levels possible. The purpose, content and the method of the research were explained in the First Chapter of the thesis. There were some challenges faced in the process of selecting the products reviewed in the thesis, due to the numerous examples which have been produced by Turkish ceramic tile manufacturers in the focused time period. Besides the issues related to the archive problems of the tile companies, also the problem of misinformation arose in the late periods of the sector. The increasing competition of the tile manufacturers combined with the development of communication technologies created both resource and misleading information about tiles and their designs. The problems which were confronted with their specific solutions also helped shape the method and the content of the thesis. Therefore all the process is explained in the First Chapter in order to create a better understanding of the study and the reviewed tile designs. In the Second Chapter, the use of ceramic in architecture was explained and developments in ceramic tile design were summarized. This chapter focused on the phases which changed the perspective on tile design and production. The history and development of Turkish Ceramic Industry, which has a strong heritage in architectural ceramics, were explained in the Third Chapter. The information provided in the first three chapters covered the historical developments and design phases of tile design. It is aimed to create a background for a better understanding of the design references discussed in the research. The references which are not related to history of ceramic tiles, are also explained seperately along with the product itself. Therefore any different sources used as a reference in the reviewed tile design is covered in the study. The product examples which are the main source for design references, were analyzed in the Fourth Chapter. The information provided by the manufacturer was given priority in order to create an objective evaluation of the products. After this information, a detailed description of the image used was given, in order to avoid any misunderstanding about the analysis of the design. This identification of the reviewed tile was needed because of the misleading information witnessed in some examples about the concepts, names or dimensions, provided by the manufacturers. The visual and technical properties of each product image were described before the evaluation about its design. The analysis about the design references used in the product was done after sharing all the objective data. It is aimed to separate the product's manufacturing data from the evaluations about its design. The trends and new manufacturing technologies are a big part of the choices made in the design of ceramic tiles. Turkish ceramic tiles also changed and evolved with the developments in design and technology. It is also important to keep an eye on the sectoral news while trying to review the contemporary Turkish tile designs, which are the main focus of the thesis. The design choices of Turkish customers or the new technologies the Turkish manufacturers adapted, help to comprehend the references in design in a broader perspective. Therefore significant news and developments in ceramic industry were also shared along with the products. The observations and results deriven from these evaluations, were explained in the Fifth Chapter. Observations about the Turkish Ceramic Tile Industry were made in the course of research made on design references. Firstly the opinions about these sectoral observations were summarized. This overview included the changes observed in the approach of the sector to ceramic tiles as a product, and to the design references within were evaluated. Some connections discovered between the product name and the references used in the product design were also reviewed. After this overview, design references in the ceramic tiles were evaluated as the main research topic of the thesis. The references were analyzed by topic and method seperately. All the data and findings studied throughout this research were discussed extensively. A table about the findings on the topics of the design references and the methods of using them was made at the end of the study, in order to see the deriven results. The overview, results and the table together provide an in-depth look the the main research area of the thesis.