In Search of the Elemental: Tactile Surfaces Inspired by the Particles of the Universe

The search for the fundamental particle has been driving curious minds for much longer than we imagine. Leucippus and Democritus, Greek philosophers from the 5th century B.C., were the first to propose that the entire universe was made up of particles called atoms, indivisible and colliding against each other in an infinite void. Since then much has been studied about how dynamics actually take place at the atomic level (neutrons, protons and electrons), and there is still much to be discovered. Understanding the Higgs boson, for example, may even lead to a new understanding of the origin of the universe and life, since it can explain how elementary particles have mass. Moving from atomic abstraction to the world as we know it is a fascinating thing. It was this plunge into the particle –the smallest known part of the universe– which inspired the new collection by the Italian company Fiandre Architectural Surfaces, which produces ceramic pieces for spaces.