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Trade terms for professionals and design studios
Every open-plan office knows the dilemma: the moment you wall off a meeting corner, you start a war with the air conditioning. Jali declines the fight. Its circular perforations let air, light and sightlines flow straight through, so a lobby or floor plate gets zoned without new ductwork diagrams — the screen breathes with the building instead of against it.
Patricia Urquiola drew the block for Mutina in 2023: one extruded terracotta element, 9 by 4 by 9 inches, produced artisanally, named after the perforated stone screens of Indian architecture. Five declared laying schemes run from 17.36 to 34.72 pieces per square metre — a transparency dial — in natural Neutro or glazed Bianco and Nero over the clay body. Interior Design magazine gave the collection its Best of Year Award 2023 for Architectural Products.
Walls rise to 13 feet on Mutina's anchoring schemes with Fisher SXR fixings, and the 2025 Jali outdoor version carries an F2 severe-exposure frost rating for patios and roof decks. Sustainability reviewers get their line too: 10 percent recycled content under the LEED 4.1 declaration, solvent-free organic sealant, VOC papers on request. La Mercanti quotes by zone and ships the sample blocks first.
Collection: Jali, Mutina (Jali outdoor since 2025)
Design: Patricia Urquiola, 2023
Material: extruded terracotta, artisanal production
Format: single element 9x4x9 inches (24x24x12 cm)
Tolerance: declared 0.12 in; alternate laying direction to even out pieces
Colors: Neutro (natural), Bianco and Nero (glazed finish)
Laying: vertical or horizontal, aligned or staggered; 5 schemes — 17.36 or 34.72 pcs/m²
Wall height: up to 4 m (13 ft) — anchoring on 2 sides max h157.5 in, 3 sides max h157.5x118.1 in, 2 sides max h98.4x39.4 in; Fisher SXR 8x80
Trims: painted timber linear and end profiles (outdoor-rated available)
Adhesive: Mutina organic solvent-free sealant; EC 1 plus sealant with the profile
Dimensions: T2-R2 (UNI EN 772-16)
Water absorption: 12.5% (UNI EN 772-21)
Soluble salts: S2 (UNI EN 772-5)
Frost: F1 indoor; outdoor F2 severe exposure (UNI EN 772-22)
Horizontal loads: C2 (D.M. 1401/2008)
Environment: 10% recycled content (LEED 4.1 declaration); VOC, HPD, SDS on request
Weight: 8.20 kg (18 lbs) per piece
Awards: Interior Design Best of Year 2023, Architectural Products
The perforation is the point: every block carries a circular opening, so supply air, daylight and sightlines keep moving across the floor plate while the screen defines the zone. You get a meeting corner or a lobby sequence without touching the mechanical drawings. Density is tunable — 17.36 or 34.72 pieces per square metre depending on the laying scheme.
Mutina declares 10 percent recycled content in the clay body under its LEED 4.1 documentation, dated February 2025, and the recommended adhesive is an organic, solvent-free sealant — with an EC 1 plus rated sealant supplied when the timber profile is used. VOC, HPD and SDS papers come on request; La Mercanti includes the set in the project file.
Specify the outdoor version: drawn in 2025, it carries the F2 severe-exposure frost marking under UNI EN 772-22, with outdoor-rated painted timber profiles. Freeze-thaw is addressed by classification, not improvisation — and the block is the same 9x4x9 module as indoors, so the language never changes at the threshold. La Mercanti confirms the right version per zone.
Each piece weighs 8.20 kg — about 18 pounds — and installs with Mutina's solvent-free organic sealant, no grout joints to design. Walls follow the declared anchoring schemes up to 4 metres with Fisher SXR 8x80 fixings, and the artisanal 3 mm tolerance is managed by alternating the laying direction. Your structural engineer signs the final configuration.
Wherever you want separation without sealing: reception backdrops, meeting-room filters, breakout edges, café corners and the indoor-outdoor line to a terrace. The same block also stacks into benches and low elements — Urquiola calls them real pieces of furniture. La Mercanti maps zones, schemes and versions before pricing.
The working sequence for architects and GCs: zoning, density, anchoring and paperwork, all on Mutina's declared data.
Mark where separation is needed and where air and light must keep moving: those lines are Jali territory. Full-height walls stay drywall; filters become terracotta.
Choose among the five schemes: 17.36 pieces per square metre for open weaves, 34.72 for privacy. Mixing vertical and horizontal courses changes the rhythm without changing the part.
Heights to 13 feet use two- or three-side restraint per the declared schemes, Fisher SXR 8x80 fixings, engineer of record signing off. The data sheet says it plainly: local codes govern.
Natural Neutro or glazed Bianco and Nero, mixed at will; painted timber profiles close the composition at walls and ceilings — outdoor-rated for exterior runs.
UNI EN 772 values, anchoring schemes, weights, recycled-content declaration and VOC papers on request: La Mercanti assembles the submittal package with the quote and sends physical samples first.
