encounter by gerhard abel from austria

the idea (the encounter) :

a typical standard flat square tile meets with a waterpipe.
it has to give up its flatness, becoming 2,5 dimensional to be able to cover the pipe.
if the pipe curves, so does its cover.

the resulting system can be applied in 2 different situations :

A) inside the house the pipe is part of the heating system :
hot water circulates underneath the tiles, heating the bathroom.
Just like the cavity walls of the hypocaust heating in the roman thermae.

B) If its used outside, the function is reversed :
The ( dark ) tiles absorb the radiating heat from the sun, heating the water that circulates in the pipes.

starting from 3 basic modules : 2 curved- and one straigth piece, the resulting patterns will always be different.

the technology :

the material is that of a standard ceramic tile with whatever surface.
for outside (reversed) use dark stoneware would be required to withstand the weather.

the pipe (standard copper or plastic) is fixed to the wall locally.
then the tiles are fixed with flexible thin bed mortar, which is used on heating screeds.
the mortar also fills the cavity between the tile and the pipe for best heat transmission.

flexible sealing compound is then applied to fill the seams.

the tiles can be used anywhere on the wall or on the floor alternating with standard flat tiles.

the system is able to grow, adding more modules in the future.