christo

mosaic. TORONTO, ON

This custom tile mosaic takes its inspiration from the original tile plaque located on the front of the house. Located in typical Toronto Portugese neighbourhoods, these plaques, or azulejos as they are known, are a common occurrence where first generation Portugese families made their new homes. As these neighbourhoods gentrify, these tiles are typically removed from the house. In this renovation, lloydlondon architects aimed to preserve the memory of this neighbourhood within the house, in the form of a tiled backsplash. Made up of over 20 different coloured tiles, a small selection of the original plaque was re-created, but magnified to a larger scale. Laser cut grids were created to help assemble the image in sheets so that the installation of the mosaic was expedited. The overall installation is an abstracted version of the original yet retains some of the text and characteristics.