Gianmaria Bardelli | Design and Ceramics

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Profile

A path built from within ceramics

Gianmaria Bardelli is CEO of Gruppo Bardelli S.p.A. and works across design, research and development, product, marketing and management within the ceramic industry. His experience developed from inside the family business, moving through digital communication, R&D and product development to the responsibility of connecting creative vision, manufacturing reality and the market.

As the third generation of the Bardelli family, he sees heritage not as a repertoire to preserve unchanged, but as a foundation from which to continue evolving. Direct knowledge of materials, processes, production, collections and the market informs an approach in which innovation and continuity coexist.

Over time he has worked alongside art directors, studios and international designers, helping translate creative ideas and languages into concrete ceramic expressions. In parallel, he has developed his own surface projects, including Fili and the Brush and Precious graphics for Colorama Decor, exploring colour, decoration, technology and product memory.

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Three generations. Knowledge built from the inside.

Role

CEO · Marketing & R&D

Generation

Third generation of the Bardelli family

Education

IULM, Milano · IULM Communication School · 24ORE Business School

Research

Ceramics · Product · Design · Technology · AI

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An evolving path

From digital communication to product direction and company leadership.

2014

Communication & digital

His professional path in ceramics begins with marketing and digital communication, exploring new tools and technologies applied to architecture and design.

2016

R&D & development

The work progressively moves into research and development and the management of creative processes, bringing communication, product, material and industrial reality closer together.

2020

Design, product & direction

Responsibilities expand to design and product direction and, in parallel, to company leadership, moving from the individual project to the wider system in which it is developed.

2021–today

Integrated vision

Design, marketing, research, product and technology converge into a cross-disciplinary approach focused on consistency between creative vision, industrial development, identity and market.

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Project, design & industry

Translating creative visions into ceramic products by connecting design language, material, industrial processes and market.

01

Art directions

Lombardini22 · Marcante&Testa · Tommaso Gagliardi

02

Projects developed

Fornasetti · Studiopepe · Dimorestudio · DainelliStudio

03

Design & product

Marcel Wanders · Daria Zinovatnaya · Meneghello&Paolelli · Ronald Van Der Hilst · StorageMilano

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Industry system

Confindustria Ceramica · Promotional Activities and Trade Fairs Commission

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Education

An academic background spanning marketing, communication, digital culture and design management.

IULM

Communication Sciences, Public Relations and Corporate Communication

2014 · Milano

Studies focused on marketing, corporate communication and consumer psychology, with attention to neuromarketing and emerging digital marketing languages.

IULM Communication School

Social Media Marketing & Web Communication

Digital communication

A course focused on digital communication, marketing and web languages, consolidating an interest in strategy, technology and changing communication behaviours.

24ORE Business School

Master in Business Design

2018–2019

Advanced training in the management of creative processes in design and luxury companies, with particular attention to project culture, identity and the organisation of creativity.

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Ceramica Bardelli

Gianmaria Bardelli × Ceramica Bardelli

Between archive, product and new technologies.

Within Ceramica Bardelli, Gianmaria Bardelli’s design path grows from the encounter between archival memory and contemporary technologies. Fili reinterprets a 1984 Bardelli collection, preserving its textile and chromatic idea while translating it into porcelain stoneware through contemporary decorative technologies. In 2023, Caledio explored a modular system inspired by the kaleidoscope, presented at Cersaie as a study of form, colour and combination.

With Decor by Gianmaria Bardelli, the work moves to the 60×120 cm large format. The Brush and Precious graphics, developed by Gianmaria Bardelli, combine colour, cold digital printing and surface relief, interpreting ceramics as a narrative surface for architecture and interior design.

These projects coexist with a broader role in development and direction: translating the visions of designers, studios and art directors into industrially feasible products while maintaining consistency between creative intent, material, technology, brand identity and market.

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Press

Press & Media

Interviews, publications and conversations on ceramics, product, design, innovation and digital transformation.

Tile Italia

Focus Ceramica 2026 — The voice of industry leaders

An interview on artificial intelligence, product development, showroom service and the relationship between brand, designer and point of sale.

Open source ↗

MaterialiCasa

Innovation and material at the heart of Gruppo Bardelli

A conversation from Cersaie 2025 on design, research, material and new directions in ceramics.

Open source ↗

Tile Italia

Cersaie, interview with Gianmaria Bardelli

Customization, Mix & Match and the dialogue between materials and collections in the Welcome to Eden project.

Open source ↗

Interior Design

Cersaie Celebrates its 40th Anniversary in Bologna, Italy

The international selection of Cersaie 2023 highlights includes Gruppo Bardelli and Caledio, presented as a collection conceived by Gianmaria Bardelli and inspired by the kaleidoscope.

Open source ↗

PianetaDesign