Map shows tile designs from every country, including Hungary

Decorative tiles are a quiet miracle: hygienic, durable, low-maintenance, and sustainable. Their aesthetics have developed over thousands of years.

But, perhaps because tiling as an industry took off in Victorian times, the wonder of the tile is often
overlooked. After all, can there be true glamour in a decoration whose use depends on a substance called
‘grout’? Actually, yes. From vintage patterns to streamlined sophistication, tiling can make anybody’s
bathroom or kitchen a place they want to be.

While some cultures have a world-famous tiling tradition from which to draw inspiration, others are less well known. That’s why QS Supplies decided to create a mapped guide to the most desirable tile designs from every country on Earth…

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Europe is a meeting point of tiling traditions. The Arab conquests of the first millennium brought Islamic tessellation from the east to complement Ancient Greek and Roman ceramic mosaics. This and later migration from North Africa to southern Europe ‘cemented’ the influence, most famously admired in the azulejo form of tin-glazed ceramic. The azulejo was a Spanish take on North African traditions which found its most enduring expression on the walls of Portugal’s gothic and Pombaline style buildings.

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A perfect storm of Gothic revivalism and industrial advances made the geometric and encaustic tile highly popular in Victorian England. The pattern in the map exemplifies a style that was achieved by layering coloured clay rather than hand-painting glazed tiles.

The United States imported most of its tiles up until 1870. At this point, demand soared due to the Victorian clamour for better hygiene. Technical advances made mass production viable, but the example on the map is an example of the Arts and Crafts style, which emerged against industrial tendencies. These tiles were produced at the short-lived Arequipa Pottery (1911-18) in California, where tuberculosis survivors worked with local clay as a form of therapy.

Other North American countries have a longer tradition of pottery. The Talavera Poblana style in Mexico grew from the application of Spanish traditions to fine local clays during the 17th-18th centuries. High demand for tiling for new churches fast-tracked the development of the craft. The natural cobalt blue in the mapped example is an expensive natural pigment. The value of these ceramics led to the phrase “to never be able to build a house with tiles” – meaning to never amount to anything. Today, only those made by certified local potteries can use the Talavera name.

Colombia has its own take on the Portuguese azulejo (see Europe above). Interior design production was in short supply at the turn of the 20th century, leading builders to import and later re-produce European styles. The Colombian azulejo evolved through the modernist era from plant-like to geometric patterns, with important buildings enjoying a more diverse colour palette.