What did you have in mind?
Trade terms for professionals and design studios
Some surfaces get photographed; this one gets touched. Phenomenon is Mutina's collaboration with Tokujin Yoshioka, the Tokyo designer whose glass bench sits in the Musée d'Orsay, and it brings his obsession - matter pushed to its limit - onto porcelain: honeycombs, snow crystals, ice, plant cells, compressed into tesserae as small as one centimeter.
The craft is verifiable, not marketing. Every tessera is pressed one at a time in a custom 100-hole mold, fired under a process Mutina patented in 2010, and assembled by hand on mesh sheets. Eight modules - Rain in three rhythms, Honeycomb in two reliefs, Rock, Air, Wind - seven matt colors mixed from custom bodies, and a Glossy line in white, black, gold and silver for interior feature walls. Performance stays porcelain-grade: 0.1% absorption, frost-rated, stain class 5, chemical class A - shower walls, pool surrounds and exterior cladding are all in play for the matt line, with Rock and Honeycomb A rated for floors.
We see it earn its keep in executive washrooms, hotel lobbies and the espresso bar wall everyone leans against. La Mercanti ships Phenomenon across the US with the arithmetic done - sheets per module, trims, grout specs - plus the VOC A+ and HPD paperwork your sustainability consultant will ask for anyway.
Collection: Phenomenon
Manufacturer: Mutina
Design: Tokujin Yoshioka, 2010 - 2013 - 2022
Material: mesh-mounted mosaics in unglazed through-body porcelain (UNI EN 14411 App. G, BIa UGL) - individually pressed tesserae, custom 100-hole mold, patented process, hand assembly
Modules: Rain A/B/C (net 9 7/8" × 12") - Honeycomb A/B (12" × 12", 0.39 in hexagon) - Rock (11 13/16" × 11 13/16") - Air (12" × 12") - Wind (10" × 10"); Honeycomb external trim
Colors: 7 matt (Bianco, Grigio, Fango, Nero, Blu, Verde, Rosa) + Glossy: Rain A, Honeycomb B, Rock in Bianco Glossy, Nero Glossy, Oro, Argento
Use: walls indoor/outdoor; floors: Rock and Honeycomb A; Glossy interior walls only
Declared values (ISO 10545): absorption 0.1% - frost and thermal shock: resistant - chemicals class A - stains class 5 - VOC emissions A+
Awards: Red Dot Design Award 2012, Interior Innovation Award 2014 Best of Best, Azure Love Tag 2012
Documents: technical sheet, VOC, HPD, EPD, SDS from the article page
Let us know which finishes you'd like to explore
The matt line can: 0.1% water absorption, declared frost and thermal-shock resistance, chemical class A. That covers steam showers, pool surrounds and exterior cladding. Floors call for Rock or Honeycomb A specifically, and the Glossy metals stay on interior walls. Send us the room list and we will map every surface to the manufacturer's use classes.
Nothing about it is printed. Each tessera is pressed individually in a 100-hole custom mold - a process Mutina patented in 2010 - then hand-set on mesh. The color runs through the body, mixed from custom clay recipes, which is where the powdery, mineral surface comes from. The Red Dot jury saw the difference in 2012; your clients will feel it with a fingertip.
Think in viewing distances. Rain's vertical rods carry a lobby or reception wall seen from across the room; the one-centimeter Honeycomb rewards arm's-length spaces like washrooms and powder rooms; Rock and Honeycomb A add traction and texture underfoot in wellness zones. We ship physical samples so the call gets made on site, in the project's own light.
Standard porcelain trade skills apply: slow-setting thinset, joints continuing the mesh spacing, cement grout - epoxy allowed on Rock and Honeycomb A. Upkeep is a neutral cleaner; the unglazed body rates stain class 5, so makeup, chlorine splash and espresso wipe off. Mutina's laying and care instructions come with the shipment.
Yes - Mutina's ceramics are certified VOC A+ (fired above 1100 °C, no organic surface treatments), with HPD, EPD and SDS files available from the article page. If your project pursues healthy-materials credits, La Mercanti bundles the documentation with the quote so procurement and sustainability review run in parallel.
For US designers and owners: surfaces, modules, colors and counts - handled once, correctly.
