Laboratorio

In 2014, La Casa di Pietra was born with gumdesign – Laura Fiaschi and Gabriele Pardi: a place for research, exchange and design. A different way of looking at marble, not simply as a material to be transformed, but as something capable of suggesting, questioning and opening up new possibilities.

In 2019, the Donna del Marmo Award was presented to Laura Fiaschi by the Associazione Nazionale Le Donne del Marmo: a recognition that marked an important moment in a relationship with stone built through research, design, companies, artisans and territories.

Today, that research is taking on a new dimension, one that is fundamental to them: education. For the second year in a row, at Marmomac they presented the outcome of Laboratorio, a course within the Degree Programme in Engineering for Industrial Design at the University of Pisa, developed together with the students.

A workshop built around the material: observing it, listening to it, understanding its qualities, limitations and possibilities, allowing marble to become a dialogue partner in the design process. It is the most natural progression for them: after designing with the material, learning how to pass on a way of looking at the material. Not simply knowledge, but a research method, a sensitivity, a way of questioning the design process.

The natural stone elements were made by the Associazione Nazionale Le Donne del Marmo, through a concrete sharing of skills and knowledge. The complementary materials were supplied by a series of artisans who are part of the distributed network of craftsmanship that has grown from 2014 to today.

La Casa di Pietra continues its journey. No longer only through objects, but through those who will learn to imagine them.