Aurore by Mutina — the tile where the grout joint is part of the drawing

Most tile ranges try to make the grout line disappear. Aurore does the opposite: it makes the joint part of the drawing. Vincent Van Duysen designed the collection for Mutina in 2025 around the memory of children's chalk drawings on pavements — grids of light and dark strokes over a ground that, in his words, «seems to shift and fade over time». A glazed, deliberately non-rectified porcelain stoneware in the historic 20.5×20.5 cm square, with a recommended 2 mm joint that reads as one more pencil line, not as a compromise.

The system is quietly rigorous: four colours — Charcoal, Light Grey, Light Blue, Light Green — each as a solid and in two patterns, Grid S and Grid L, twelve references that combine tone-on-tone or in contrast. The glaze is mixed with micronised glass-ceramics, so the surface is anti-reflective and soft to the touch while keeping declared slip resistance: R11, barefoot class C, DCOF 0.74. Water absorption is 0.07%, stain resistance class 5 — manufacturer data throughout.

One drawing from washroom to terrace

Declared use covers floor and wall, indoor and outdoor, with frost and thermal-shock resistance: an architect can run the same grid from the executive washroom through the reception front to a covered terrace without changing material or palette. Laying advice belongs to the design too — pull tiles from several boxes so the minimal shade variation settles evenly. Product certificates can be downloaded from this page; the specification writes itself around honest numbers.