See Also: Recent AEC Daily Newsletters
Marmomacc 2007 - A Business and Design Success
(Verona, Italy – October 29, 2007) – The importance of Marmomacc to the world of stone was demonstrated by this year’s “Marmomacc Meets Design” initiative, which paired leading international designers with 10 Italian stone processors. The pairings focused on the “lightness” of stone in developing objects, such as lamps, and entire booth designs.
Three of the booths featuring these designs shared the first Marmomacc Best Communicator Award, presented to the booths with the best visual approaches to conveying the richness of stone. The winners:
-Il Casone for Kengo Kuma’s booth design;
-Grassi Pietre for its booth, designed by Aldo Cibic; and
-PibaMarmi for Michele de Lucchi’s marble lamps over miniature stone structures.
(From left to right: Lucchi’s lamps and structures, the pattern of Kuma’s design and Cibic’s booth for Grassi)
Kuma, Cibic, Denis Santachiara, Tobia Scarpa, and Riccardo Blumer are among the designers involved with this project who were also present at Marmomacc. They were joined by a number of architects who received awards for the 10th Edition of The International Architecture In Stone Award (please see our press release of June 4, 2007, or email us for a copy), including Jensen & Skodvin, Paulo David, Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas and Beniamino Servino, at a ceremony held at Verona’s unique Castelvecchio Musem. This event was also attended by architects – including Angela Garcia de Paredes and Ignacio Garcia Pedrosa, as well as Ignacio Fernandez Solla -- whose works were featured in the New Stone Architecture In Spain exhibition, which highlighted major stone projects of the last 10 years.
Marmomacc attracts architects not only thanks to its commitment to promoting stone-related design, but also because it is the best place to learn about the technological innovations shaping the manipulation of stone. An outstanding example of this to come out of Marmomacc 2007 is the Grein group’s “Stone Foil,” a stone material so malleable – it has a thickness of just 2/10 of a millimeter – that it is ideal for non-flat surfaces. Grein created a series of motorcycle helmets with an outer layer in granite as an example of what becomes possible thanks to this increased flexibility (the helmet is available in 15 types of granite):
Marmomacc 2007 also hosted the ninth edition of its continuing education course for architects. Thirty architects from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., India, South Africa and Australia spent four days studying the importance of stone in modern design. Participants visited quarries in Lessinia, Palladio’s Villa “La Torre” and even Bertani’s 18th century Villa Novare winery.
Nearly half of the more than 65,000 stone-sector professionals who attended Marmomacc were foreign visitors, representing 110 countries. This 6 % increase in foreign visitors to more than 26,000 demonstrates Marmomacc’s global importance and why the show has become the annual meeting point for the stone sector. Over 1,500 companies from 50 countries exhibited stone materials and technologies, making Marmomacc the ideal venue to see the best that the world of stone has to offer.
The tentative dates for Marmomacc 2008 are October 2nd-5th.
For more information on Marmomacc or digital copies of the images, please contact: The Consultants International Group in Washington, DC (Sebastiano Brancoli, sbrancoli@cig-dc.com, tel.: 202-783-7000).
Photos from 2006 editionMarmomacc - International Exhibition of Stone Design and Technology
Statistics 2006
Exhibitors: 1.455 of which 656 coming from 51 foreign countries
Trade visitors: 62.014 of which 24.985 coming from 118 foreign countries
Net exhibition space: 71.981 sq.m.
Accredited journalists: 335
Comments from Trade Visitors
"I have been going to Marmomacc for 15 years. The show is a great opportunity for networking with people from all over the world. It also allows me to stay in touch with what innovative companies in the sector are doing." (Ralph Frohling, Innovative Stone, Hauppauge, NY).
"Marmomacc is where I go to see new products, make new contacts and renew old ones. I've been going for over 10 years and you really get a great number of trade professionals and suppliers from all over the world under one roof." (Saket Hans, Ohm International, Monroe Township, NJ).
Comments from Exhibitors
“MARMOMACC is the best trade show for stone in the world, bar none. We've been exhibiting at Marmomacc for seven years and the show really allows us to reach our target and gives us good customer turnover." (Robert Campo, Rock of Ages, Graniteville, VT).
“MARMOMACC is the grand-daddy of stone shows. As a trade publication, we exhibit because of the good exposure we get to Marmomacc's exhibitors and to network." (Dave Anderson, Stone Business Magazine, Orinda, CA).
