Marmomacc: Focus on Design
VERONA, Italy – The next edition of Marmomacc on Sept. 26-29 will showcase a number of initiatives as part of the show’s fundamental role in inspiring and promoting experimental stone design.
Marmomacc Meets Design has reached its seventh edition; others, such as Marmomacc And The City and 100% Gravity, are brand-new. Also, for the first time, in conjunction with Archi-Europe, an European architectural organization with more than 180,000 members, Marmomacc is launching a stone design competition.
Marmomacc Meets Design (MMD) 2012
MMD continues to investigate the potential and versatility of stone materials through relationships combining the experience of stone-sector companies and the creativity of international designers. MMD follows an approach to innovation that searches for new interpretations of a timeless material that has proven to be extremely adaptable in responding to contemporary requirements.
This year, the project focuses on one of the most important themes in current society: sustainability.
As a natural material, marble embraces an aesthetic, cultural and design heritage ensuring extraordinary harmony with this revival of ecological, environmental and landscape concerns. This revival has deeply ethical roots that have influenced the worlds of fashion, lifestyle, architecture and interior design.
The rediscovery of natural materials also means the return of color, now extended to all areas of daily life. Until very recently, a cold and monochrome technological palette imposed an almost exclusively white, black and steel-hued dominance.
The imposing return, on an international level, of natural materials, has also led to the collective reappropriation of a more kaleidoscopic and colorful world, deeply linked to the very essence of the stone materials from every corner of the planet that Marmomacc presents and showcases every year, offering designers endless possibilities.
Marmomacc And The City
In conjunction with the City of Verona and the Veronese Order of Architects, Veronafiere is bringing Marmomacc to Verona’s piazze. Exhibitors will have the opportunity to display a stone work in a Veronese piazza or courtyard.
100% Gravity
An exhibit of large-scale architectural fragments focused on developing and expanding recent experimentation with massive stone. Designers and exhibitors have been invited to participate in this exhibit.
Marmomacc Architecture and Design Competition
The competition will recognize the best stone designs in three categories: 1) spa, 2) restaurant/wine bar, and 3) retail store. Interested architects and interior designers should go here to register and for complete contest information. Projects must be submitted by Sept. 2.
Three winners will be selected from each category, for a total of nine. Their project designs will be combined into an exhibit at the show.
The overall winner in each category will be invited, as a guest of Marmomacc, to attend the show to personally present the project.
Marmomacc Lab – “Touch Me”
Marmomacc’s new sensory lab — presented in conjunction with the Centro Servizi Marmo – will offer an interactive setting allowing visitors to directly experience the visual and tactile characteristics of stone materials at different stages of processing. The goal is to provide hands-on knowledge of stone materials and how they are used.
Stone’s
Designers Ludovica and Roberto Palomba will create a 1,000 ft² urban setting, featuring the stone façade of a building combined with a stone-clad wine bar. Visitors will be able to admire the project while enjoying a glass of wine.
As always, Hall 7B, where many of these initiatives will be on display, will be the focal point of Marmomacc’s ongoing dialogue with the design community. In particular, the Marble Forum will host a number of lectures, roundtables, and awards ceremonies, involving members of the stone trade and of the academic design community.
For more information on Marmomacc 2012 please contact The Consultants International Group in Washington (Sebastiano Brancoli, 202-783-7000).
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