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Touching is feeling. There is no more visceral sense, as intimate and profound, as touch. Its awakening takes place in the beginning of existence, with the baby recognizing the interior of the mother’s belly – a universe that cannot yet be seen, but can now be touched and, therefore, fully experienced.

“All senses, including vision, are extensions of touch; and all sensory experiences are variants of touch and therefore related to tactility. Our contact with the world occurs at the dividing line of our personal identities, through the specialized parts of our covering membrane”, states Juhani Pallasmaa, in the book “The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses” (Bookman, 2011), explaining that the body’s sensory structures – even the transparent cornea that allows us to see – are evolutionary variations of the skin, our oldest and most sensitive organ.

The author is a renowned Finnish architect, professor of architecture at Aalto University, who has dedicated himself to the study of so-called multisensory architecture for decades. According to Pallasmaaa, it is true that “an architecture that ‘intensifies life’ must provoke all the senses simultaneously”, just as it is undeniable that, in this context, “the primacy of touch has become increasingly evident”.

Those who visited the biggest international design fairs in 2023, such as the Milan Furniture Fair, have certainly noticed that Pallasmaa’s idea has already spread to the four winds: sharpening the senses and provoking human connections, especially through tactile experiences, seems to be one of the biggest bets in contemporary architecture.

In recent years we have needed to avoid any type of physical contact. The hypothesis is that this circumstance is behind the current “touch me” phenomenon: if repressed desire converts into more desire, we are now eager for the full experience. And the design industry has responded accordingly.

In the world of coverings, the tendency to value touch is reflected in product launches, which offer new and surprising possibilities for textures and finishes.

There is no shortage of options for all tastes!

Still in the book “The Eyes of the Skin”, Juhani Pallasmaa states that the skin, the largest organ in the human body, not only makes it possible to actively examine everything we can reach, but also delights in this task:

“The skin reads the texture, weight, density and temperature of matter. The surface of an old object, polished to perfection by a craftsman’s tool and the assiduous hands of its users, seduces our hands to caress it. It is a pleasure to press the handle of the door that shines with the thousands of hands that have passed through it before us; the flickering glow of timeless wear has become an image of welcome and hospitality. The door handle is the building’s handshake. Touch connects us with time and tradition: through the impressions of touch, we shake hands with countless generations. A rolled pebble polished by the waves is a pleasure to the hands, not only because of its smooth form, but because it expresses the slow process of its formation; a perfect pebble in the palm of your hand materializes duration, it is time that has been transformed into form.”

The pieces from the Íris series seem to dialogue with our fingertips, immediately inviting touch. The visual concept has everything to do with the digital universe, making it possible to relate the small metallic bars on its surface to barcodes.

Íris Code is 10x20cm in size, like the charming Subway tiles, and is available in the colors Agave, Camel, Fendi, Ivory, Marine, Mauve and Shell, always with gold metallic details.

It is pieces like these that prove yet another idea defended by Pallasmaa: that we not only “eat”, but also “touch” with our eyes, with pleasant textures being extremely satisfying for touch and vision:

“Our eyes caress distant surfaces, curves and edges; It is the unconscious tactile sensation that determines whether a visual experience is pleasurable or unpleasant. What is distant or close is experienced with the same intensity, both merge into one experience.”

Another finish of synesthetic seduction, which affects vision, touch and even taste, awakening memories of sweet and soft sensations, goes by the name of Aquarela Punto.

The 7x25cm pieces enchant with tiny metallic bubbles that add an idyllic atmosphere to the environments, in ten pastel or toned shades: Off White, Fendi, Gris, Clay, Mauve, Greige, Mint, Agave, Graphite and Lavender.

Following a similar trend, Pixel artistic tiles offer an irresistible soft touch, in 29x29cm pieces, with a satin finish.

Pixels can have a white or black background, serving as the basis for sophisticated gold applications: small bas-relief dots that spread smoothly across the surface.

The architecture of the senses is like this: it makes everything take on a different charm. Charm that is often difficult to explain, but easily felt!