tanurstyle

Tanurstyle is a contemporary design and art term describing a sensibility inspired by traditional clay ovens, or tanurs. It highlights rounded geometric forms, tactile surfaces, and warm, earthen palettes.

Originating in critical discussions of kiln-fired craft and vernacular architecture in the 2010s, tanurstyle gained wider attention in the early 2020s through exhibitions and publications that emphasized material warmth and craft-based practice. Core concepts include a warm color palette—terracotta, ochre, brick red—paired with textured surfaces such as rough brick, unglazed ceramic, and slip finishes. Forms often evoke ovens, arches, and domes, while the approach blends hand-made ceramic techniques with digital design methods to produce objects and installations that feel both ancient and contemporary.

In architecture and interior design, tanurstyle informs brickwork-inspired façades, curved seating, and lighting that emphasizes warm, diffuse illumination; in product design, it appears in pottery, ceramics, and furniture that foreground tactile textures. The movement is discussed in academic and curatorial writing as a way to revalue vernacular craft within high-design contexts, though some critics note risks of overuse of a single earthy palette or cultural appropriation concerns.

Notable practitioners are ceramicists, sculptors, and designers who produce work within this sensibility, often collaborating across disciplines. See also Ceramic art, Earth-tone design, Vernacular architecture, Wabi-sabi.