Brazil’s Craze with Tiles on Buildings – everywhere!

Last time we travelled in Brazil we noticed it, and this time even more so: it’s a very common craze to cover the outside of many buildings with colourful tiles. Often it’s part of the initial design; other times a quick way to rejuvenate an old building.

We have talked about this trend with Brazilians several times, but they don’t seem to see it as anything noteworthy. Tiled structures are simply a common sight for them! It probably takes a foreigner to notice…

Brazil’s Craze with tiles on the outside of buildings.

It always amazed us to see tiles used to cover part, or the entire exterior, of buildings; from shop fronts to residential houses. Even high-rise towers of 20 storeys, and more, are entirely clad in tiles!

Maybe it’s because tiles are relatively expensive in Australia, since all are imported from overseas. In Brazil, tiles are cheap! We saw enormous factories along the highways only producing tiles. In shops you always find attractive, large-size, floor tiles for under Rs10 per square meter (that’s roughly AUD4/sqm), whereas in Australia you’re lucky if you find any ‘end of the line’ stock of floor tiles under AUD20, more likely you pay upwards of $30/sqm.

They also make a lot of really attractive tiles in Brazil. In many places we noticed large, narrow, tile strips, which perfectly resemble hardwood boards. Since they are almost a meter long and the width of a normal timber board, these tiles are used as a hard-wearing floor in shopping centres or timber-look features on walls.

Don’t they look like real timber boards? We’ve seen these wood effect tiles used in many different places. Here on a verandah they look most appropriate.

Or there are countless variations of imprints resembling the now so popular mosaic tiles, except that these come as single solid tiles of 30×30 or 40×40 centimetres – much easier to lay. It doesn’t stop with these, there are many other patterns!

In some cases this vast choice is the main reason for some really terrible looking tiling jobs. We had noticed the Brazilian taste of combining several really gaudy paint colours on one building. Imagine what it looks like when they combine several clashing tile patterns in one place! You often find this in residential streets or on older shops.

On the other hand, we noticed rather clever ways to break up the bulk of multi-storey buildings by using contrasting colour sections. These were usually architect-designed, large apartment or office blocks. Sometimes it is only done with paint, but more often by inserting at least some large tiled sections into the facade’s design.

The vast choice of reasonably cheap tiles also means that tiling isn’t confined to facades, kitchens and bathrooms. Tiled floors throughout a house, inside and out, are very common. They might even extend out to cover the whole width of the footpath. Or you see garden walls, driveways, and the concrete sections of front fences covered with tiles.

Many of these photos were taken from our truck… Click thumbnails below for a larger photo.

Geometric tile patterns, like on this small supermarket, can be seen on many buildings.

These very 90s tiles obviously came in two colour options: white and black or mint and black. Which one do you like best?

A print factory in Pomerode with a fairly subtle modern tile facade.

A little run-down commercial building in an industrial zone of Caraguatatuba.

Side by side, two new apartment buildings in 4 Ilhas. The one on the right is almost completely covered in small mosaic tiles. On the left, the dark brown is made from medium sized mosaic tiles.

An advertisement for credit cards in this window is nicely framed by yet another geometric pattern on this supermarket.

As far as I remember this was the compound of a private school in Florianópolis. The tall tower in the background is also partly tiled.

A new residential tower in Torres: only the white part is not tiled!

A residential tower in Torres: the brownish surface is covered in tiles. On the building behind most of the concrete is also tiled.

A residential condominium, called Las Palmas, in Florianópolis with the entire facade tiled in 3 colours.

A residential building, called Blue Tree Towers (??), in Florianópolis. Most of its facade is tiled, as is part of the adjoining building.

We’ve seen similar patterns fairly regularly: one colour merges in a pixelated fashion into another.

You wouldn’t believe how often we saw this strange black and white tile pattern covering houses. Here it ‘goes well’ with some other tiles.

A bright and simple geometric pattern on this petrol station. As a brand independent business they used the same white arrows as their logo…

Personally I found this a very creative and simple tile design on a facade of a Pousada in Canasvieiras.

Tiled facade of a block of cheap holiday flats in Saquarema.

A completely tiled verandah of an old 50s or 60s beachside bungalow in Farol de São Tomé.

Somebody put a lot of work and creativity into the brick fence and house base of this beachside property in Farol de São Tomé.

South of Cabo Frio the beach front was lined with identical small holiday apartments. All had their fences and exterior wall tiled, only the colours varied.

Tiled facade of a small commercial building along the coast road in Northern Rio de Janeiro state.

Massive side wall of a supermarket in Diamantina tiled in the company colours.

Another tiled supermarket front in Diamantina.

A fully tiled house in a small town somewhere in the South of Brazil. These are large tiles with a brick pattern.

We parked one day in front of this residential house where tiling has been taken to ‘some extreme’. Look at all the different tile patterns!

In many locations tiling simply provides a longer lasting, clean, outside appearance. Rendered or painted exterior surfaces seem to quickly develop unsightly patches of black mildew, especially in coastal regions with high humidity. Tiles seem to get washed clean by rain.

So tiling, when done right, can provide a rather durable and attractive surface. Very often we loved the look of tiled buildings, particularly when creative colour combinations were used. Even Brazil’s famous architect Oscar Niemeyer used tiles in many of his designs.

Oscar Niemeyer’s tile designs. Click thumbnails below for a larger photo.

Two other variations of tiling also caught our eyes. Several times we saw large hand-painted motifs of the traditional blue-and-white Portuguese tiles used to good effect. Also, we found really well-executed tile mosaics, often on a grand scale!

Various tile mosaics we found. Click thumbnails below for a larger photo.

Finally there is the famous tiled public stairway in Rio de Janeiro which has become a tourist attraction.

The colourfully tiled Escadaria Selarón has become a real tourist attraction. In the meantime many foreigners have tiles from their home country added to the mix of tiles.

Portuguese blue-and-white tiles. Click thumbnails below for a larger photo.

Pin this for later!

Have you ever considered tiling the outside of your home?
What do think of this idea? Do you like the look of it?