West Coast Lovers Rejoice: These Tiles Celebrate L.A. Architecture

Photo: Courtesy Zia Tile

One of California’s most enduring legacies is its Case Study House Program, which engaged architects to explore affordable housing concepts for the postwar era. While it never reached mass production as originally intended, it did help spread California’s unique response to modernism (especially the concept of indoor-outdoor living) across the globe. Now, these experimental homes in Los Angeles—which include the Eames House in the Palisades and the Stahl House in the Hollywood Hills—have inspired a new collection from Zia Tile.

This isn’t the first time the company, which has done collections with local designers Justina Blakeney and Amber Lewis, has found inspiration right at home. But The Case Study Collection puts L.A. design history itself on center stage, with 10 cement designs that span curved and geometric patterns as well as solids, all in a variety of shapes and sizes. The line boasts colorways channeling a midcentury palette, including Pompeii, a brick red; Rust, a burnt orange; and Elemental Blue, a nod to Yves Klein’s eponymous hue.