MCZ recently recruited none other than the fabulous and iconic Paola Navone to create Sahara fireplace cladding—specifically designed for the company’s Vivo 90 Pellet and Vivo 90 Wood fireplaces.

For Navone, this was her first foray into fireplace heating, a task she relished: “What fascinates me about fire is its universal connection with people everywhere and through all ages. That is why I was interested in the experience of ‘clothing’ it with my contemporary and slightly nomadic approach to design.”

Nomadic is perhaps an appropriate word here, as Navone chose to utilize a material and technique inspired by her journeys throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: “Zellije” is a traditional hand-pressed Moroccan tile, known for its non-uniform quality and the uneven texture and surface of each individual tile.

The medium gives Sahara a rustic quality that’s apropos for a fireplace surround. The glazing also offers an iridescent, otherworldly quality that suggests the mysteries of creation—very like the iconic signification of fire.

To find out more about Sahara, see MCZ.