Tile of Spain Booth at AIA ’04


Patti Fasan presenting a Tile of Spain seminar during AIA ’04
As part of its expanding commitment to the architectural community, Tile of Spain participated for the second consecutive year at the AIA National Convention and Expo, at McCormick Place in Chicago, June 10-12. Considered the premier conference and expo for America's architectural community, the annual event, organized by the American Institute of Architects, attracted professionals from all over the country.

At the Expo, Tile of Spain's 600 sq. ft. booth (a re-designed mini version of the well known Pavilion of Spain) hosted six of Spain's top tile manufacturers: Alcalagres, Pamesa, Porcelanosa, Roca, Rosa Gres, and Tau. Of special interest to the architectural sector were the large format, slab-like porcelain tile collections that have revolutionized installation methods and material selection for façade systems. Thanks to new technologies stemming from Spain's tile industry, ceramic featured prominently as a high-tech cladding material offering exceptional performance and great aesthetic appeal - especially for lighted and ventilated façade systems. Each of Spain's exhibiting manufacturers displayed porcelain products that excel in this category.

After a tremendous first time appearance at the Expo in 2003 and in support of the new ceramic tile products being developed for the architectural sector, Spain made good on an important new commitment to AIA by contributing accredited tile seminars as part of the official conference schedule.

Visitors at the Tile of Spain booth at AIA ’04
Tile of Spain's consultant, Patti Fasan, presented three different seminars daily - each one developed to be of value and interest to architectural professionals.

The three seminars, each of which lasted about 20 minutes, offered show visitors the opportunity to learn about ceramic tile while increasing their professional education credits. Selecting The Best Ceramic Tile Every Time compared the definitive international standards used to classify ceramic tile according to specific areas of use and defined the function of the tile body and surface glaze in easily identifiable terms. Porcelain Tile's Evolution offered a clear understanding of how each type of porcelain tile differs, when to specify each style, the features and challenges of porcelain tile specification, and the best utilization for the various types of porcelain. Environmental Ceramic Tile - Gray Area Or Green? Identified the benefits and opportunities that ceramic tile has to offer. The environmental characteristics of ceramic tile - lifecycle, indoor air quality and mold growth - were also addressed using comparative analysis and research.

The Tile of Spain booth also proved to be an invaluable resource for information regarding Spain's tile industry, manufacturers and ceramic products. Staffed by knowledgeable tile professionals, the information desk was stocked with reference materials that included lists of US contacts for Spain's premier ceramic tile manufacturers, Spain's 2004 Tile Buyers Guide, the Ceramic Tile Guide and the latest issue of Ceraspaña - a newsletter published by ASCER, Spain's tile manufacturer's association.