The Balera Collection Is Where the Lighting Lives in the Tiles

"Ceramic lighting continues to surprise us - first with tiles that double as hooks and lamps, and now with STUDIOTAMAT and Arianna De Luca's collaboration with . This time, lighting isn't simply paired with tile; it's embedded directly into ceramic compositions, turning wallcoverings into luminous and artful statements. From glaze to glow, the BALERA collection pushes ceramic conventions into bold new territory, merging artisanal craft with sculptural lighting design."

"The collaboration is the latest chapter in OFFTAMAT, an experimental offshoot of STUDIOTAMAT, where design exploration takes center stage. The studio uses OFFTAMAT as a platform for limited-edition pieces that blur the boundaries between function and art. For the BALERA collection, they tapped Abruzzo-born designer and ceramicist Arianna De Luca, known for her expressive language that fuses bold silhouettes with vibrant, contemporary palettes, and Ninefifty, the Caltagirone-based ceramic manufacturer dedicated to preserving and evolving the tradition of artisanal ceramics."

"We had a very clear idea from our very first meeting. We asked Arianna to design a wall lamp starting from a precise measurement - 20×20 cm, explains Matteo Soddu of STUDIOTAMAT. We wanted to explore the plasticity of surfaces, and pair the lamp with simple graphic marks, inspired by its curves, to develop a modular language applicable to tiling. From that single measurement, the collaboration unfolded into a series of ceramic compositions where light and glaze stand on equal footing."

BALERA embeds lighting directly into hand-glazed ceramic compositions, transforming wallcoverings into luminous, sculptural statements. The project merges artisanal craft with experimental lighting design through a collaboration between STUDIOTAMAT's OFFTAMAT, Abruzzo-born ceramicist Arianna De Luca, and Caltagirone manufacturer Ninefifty. The brief began with a precise constraint: a 20×20 cm wall lamp intended to explore surface plasticity and graphic marks derived from the lamp's curves to develop a modular tiling language. The resulting pieces pair light and glaze equally, producing modular compositions that balance playful geometry with refined craft. Each 20×20 cm tile functions as part of a rhythmic grid where curves interact with crisp geometry.

Read at Design Milk