Gadayka by plonc.

A Material and Linguistic Study

Gadayka is authored through Intra-Tile Architecture as a study in material, language, and continuity. Its textured porcelain surface explores the ruggedness of stone, rendered not as imitation but as tactile presence. Relief operates here as a way of thinking through matter, engaging both hand and mind.

The name Gadayka is drawn from Yolŋu Matha, where it is used in certain dialects to refer to stone. Within these languages, stone is not inert. It is part of Country, bound to ancestral presence, memory, and the shaping of land over time. In this context, naming is never neutral. Words carry lineage, responsibility, and depth far older than contemporary design.

This work does not claim ownership of that language or culture. Instead, it acknowledges that materials themselves are embedded in histories that precede architecture. The surface becomes a point of reflection on how geology, language, and making are entangled, rather than something to be extracted or stylised.

Visually, Gadayka draws from shifting greys, earthen tones, and mineral depth, echoing weathered stone terrains of northern Australia. For the author, the name also holds personal resonance, recalling time spent in Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt, where geological and cultural realities are inseparable.

Gadayka was never released into production.

It has not been stocked or sold.

The tile exists as a completed design study developed within plonc.’s research practice. It remains part of the studio archive as an exploration of how surface can hold continuity without reducing meaning to decoration.

Future works may continue to investigate similar relationships between material and place. This study will not be reproduced in its current form.

Colour: Whitish and earthen

Format: 1200 × 600 × 9 mm