Stand UP_PESO, Marmomacc

What if instead of solid wall, stone became a suspended wall, a light, “sustainable” and “recuperated” matter? This was the challenge accepted by Il Casone at the Verona “Marmomacc 2009” fair, successfully stimulating visitors' curiosity and obtaining a “special mention” by the jury thanks to its interesting project research, done with the contribution of a young architect and with the prolific experimental spirit which is always present in the company's strategy. The “Marmomacc meets Design” event proposed a new episode for the anthology launched in 2007 by the production industry of the Italian stone sector, proposing, as the thread that connects cooperating efforts between companies and designers, the theme “Hybrid and Flexible”. Il Casone assembled its own exhibition stand using solely demolition material from industrial processing. In a moment in history in which environmental sustainability is an increasingly up-to-date effort in order to protect our territory, even a leading company in the stone sector wonders whether it is possible to use “rejected” pieces from its own quarries. Il Casone selected architect Francesco Steccanella to design its stand. Francesco followed the steps of two great artists, Kengo Kuma and Claudio Silvestrin, interpreting the proposed theme with freedom and agility sufficient to transform an architectural episode into a ludic moment, in pedagogical table, music box, chromatic and tactile sensation. Steccanella's concept for his project was based on the problem of removing the stones from gravity: “I would like to make it float, hang it up, reduce it to tiny shards to create a curtain”, he stated, referring to the main material of his creation and of Il Casone production, pietra serena. The subject was developed through the interpretation of traditional architectural elements: a simple parallelogram consists of vertical curtains, multi-colored horizontal walls and filamentous bundles vertically fixed to the floor. The flooring which sustains these elements marks the distribution of the stand, almost like a mosaic which guides the visitor through a natural itinerary.

Sara Benzi