The Italian Stone Theatre – hall 1
29.06.2015
curated by Raffaello Galiotto and Vincenzo Pavan
With the support of the Ministry for Economic Development (MISE), the Italian Trade Agency and Confindustria Marmomacchine, Marmomacc celebrates its 50th anniversary by dedicating a special project to Made in Italy: an entire Hall will display technologies and experiments in the stone world exclusively from Italy.
Identified by a logo whose essential character outlines the institutional vocation of the project at the same time as highlighting Italian content, The Italian Stone Theatre (Hall 1) will be a major celebratory event involving not only natural stone but also machinery and technology: inasmuch, the ingenuity of designers will be paired with the professionalism, construction skills, technical and productive expertise of Italian companies and machinery.
The overall layout will present high-profile experimental works capable of demonstrating the skills of Italian companies in creating innovative products specially designed by prestigious international architects and designers, through traditional craftsmanship as well as the use of advanced machinery capable of interacting with sophisticated three-dimensional design programs.
The project is divided into two theme-based sections with different spatial identities.
One section is dedicated to materials and involves a series of installations linked by a shared, dual theme inspired by concepts of horizontality and verticality, two conditions in the use of stone materials which designers have to tackle on a daily basis.
Horizontality will be interpreted through Carpets of Stone, a collage of stone floors by several designers installed to form a segmented path, where design imagination and executive precision can demonstrate infinite interpretation possibilities and the textural and chromatic facets offered by stone materials in two-dimensional compositions.
Verticality is represented by Lithic Vertigo, a series of three-dimensional installations conceived as islands where walls, stairs and ramps will highlight the potential of stone, in mechanical terms as well as expressive quality in interpreting architecture through various building components.
The other exhibition section focuses on the interaction between stone processing machines and design projects, a crucial step that opens new perspectives for a sector which until now has experienced problematic access to the market.
Digital Lithic Design is an event where experimental design exploits digital tools and high-tech equipment to transform and re-launch stone in a new dimension where the machine is a new tool at the disposition of human creativity. A collection of works in marble of impressive formal impact will experiment the ability of each cutting and processing technique at extreme levels thanks to the involvement of players in the stone industry, tool manufacturers, software houses, machinery, marble and quarry workers.
The exhibition will be a stimulating opportunity for comparisons between these companies and will expand the debate about new technology as a competitive lever on the international stone market.
The exhibition areas in Hall 1 described above will also be joined by other spaces dedicated to meetings and debate - as well as the involvement of sectors of excellence such as food, increasingly and synergistically linked with natural stone in communicating System-Italy.
The Forum Area will be the setting for conventions, lectio magistralis, awards, architecture and design presentations, education projects and university research. Set up in the heart of the Hall to welcome internationally renowned architects and designers, it will be a fine occasion for meetings and dialogue with an audience of professionals, sector operators and academia in approaching the world of marble.
Collaboration with ADI-Veneto & Trentino Alto Adige delegation will also see the organization of a “ristorante d’autore” in a setting recalling a marble quarry. Visitors will be able to savour dishes prepared by star chefs in an ideal combination between natural stone (the raw material in architecture) and food (the raw material of cuisine).
