Conference organised by the magazine A+D+M in conjunction with CarraraMarmotec
The objective of the conference presented by the magazin A+D+M in conjunction with CarraraFiere was to share the experience of four leading architects with the public: Lorenzo Carmellini, Marco Piva, Luca Scacchetti and Claudio Silvestrin.
Four different styles, approaches, with a common interest in marble and natural stone discussed in relation to their projects that range from buildings to contract work to objects of design and decorative patterns.
Simona Finessi, director of ADM Magazine, opened the conference emphasising the importance of the use of natural stone for architects and designers in their aim to achieve quality through the use of natural products.
The first work discussed was the marvellous Mosque in Abu Dhabi for which the architects Carmellini and Magnoli worked on the exterior and interior finishings. A total of 20.000 sqm of interiors, all on the theme of Allah's garden featuring very intricate damask decorations. All in marble, of course, as Carmellini emphasised, "marble was obviously the choice of material for the job. A gigantic puzzle of marble surfaces finished in various ways: hammered, glossy, matt, made lighter or heavier, that come together in a beautiful light pattern that stands out against the milky white, textured background of the white marble chosen to make the prayer wall, at right angles to Mecca. The sense of grandeur of this project reminds us of the history of the material chosen as well as the value of Italian design and skill even in areas of the world that are culturally and ideologically far from us."
From the spirituality of the Mosque to the formal purity of line of the work by Marco Piva who combines his Marble World more to European design and skills. His statement "Architecture was born primarily with marble and stone. It is the material that creates and defines a space and conveys an emotional structure. In the dialogue between the ancient and contemporary interior spaces and objects of design, marble changes from being a heavy, static material to a light, multi-coloured, modular and versatile material for design purposes or even a pattern created in natural stone that becomes a real product in itself."
The concept becomes concrete when we see the photographs of the many hotels (T Hotel in Cagliari, Una Hotel in Bologna, Hotel Mirage in Kazan in Russia), areas and surface patterns that make Piva's emotional and functional approach to natural stone and marble tangible. Clean spaces but rich in references whereby marble, often combined with different materials such as glass and steel, traces a history and defines without limits.
Luca Scacchetti was the third architect to speak focusing our attention on the responsibility of designing, the ethics of the choice to use natural stone and marble in architecture. Stone is heavy, difficult to work, to transport. Stone is new classicism and new contemporaneity and imposes constant reflection on why we should design. Arch. Scacchetti developed his presentation illustrating his direct experience in the quarries in the Trentino region and his frequent use of the Lecce stone in projects because it is softer and more feminine than traditional marble. His beautiful works have rigour in terms of volume and the use of natural stone gives asymmetrical features to the shapes that say a lot about the material itself. ...
Claudio Sivestrin on the other hand is essential in his approach based on the strength and spiritual wealth of stone and the great energy it releases since "stone is earth, it does not represent the earth".
A clear, essential approach seen in the various works designed by Silvestrin in the areas of contract, retail (Silvestrin has been the architect behind Giorgio Armani's image in the world for a long time) and private residential where the rigour in the definition of the spaces and the use of materials relates to the balance between the primary elements, water, earth, air and fire, that are always in harmony with themselves.
A journey through great architecture, with natural stone and marble as a guide: four presentations that leave a necessary memory to all those present and not that feel the need to reconsider contemporary design.
Author: Carrarafiere Press Office; Lorenzo Marchini
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