He slid the cutter along the laminated porcelain stone tile in a wavy, contour line and hung the side off the edge of the table. With his hand he knocked the cut piece and watched it split perfectly into two. Next, he took a hammer and hit it – nothing happened. He moved over to a regular ceramic tile and hit it – it split into hundreds of pieces. This was all part of the Diego Grandi’s plan – Mauk tile designer – as the tiles represent more than just a two-dimensional floor or wall.

LEA Ceramiche live from Coverings, 2010.

There were no technical numbers or fancy words that did justice to the effect of watching the Mauk Slimtech tile strength in action. Like the road bike to the bicycle industry, LEA Ceramiche exhibited the thinnest tile at the Coverings 2010, measuring in at just 3mm thick. Using carbon fibers to make the tiles extremely durable, thin and flexible, they perform like no tile we’d ever seen. Not to mention that the tiles are made up of 40% recycled waste and retail between $3.50- $5.00.

The original slab of the tile measures in at 3 x 1 meters in size, but can be cut into pieces that create the illusion of it being three-dimensional. Besides this larger slab size, modules of 80, 90 and 100 cm sizes are also available in three different geometrical shapes – Cuadra (diamond), Esa (triangle), and Spina (trapezium).

Together, the different shades of gray tiles create three-dimenstional, MC Escher-inspired designs and come in different sanded, matte, and lapped polishes. In an unofficial ruling based on strength and innovation, the Mauk tile by LEA has earned the yellow jersey at the 2010 Giro d’Tile.