The identity of stone materials in industrial design products.
The creation of a collection of objects-products was the objective of the Territory & Design exhibition curated for Marmomac 2017 by Raffaello Galiotto and Vincenzo Pavan and set up within the scope of The Italian Stone Theatre project. The advent of new digital cutting, machining and modelling technologies – used by companies involved as partners in the event – means that stone can close the gap with the “dominant” materials in the design world since mass production processes typical of industrial items are now possible. An example of this approach is Fence: this project came into being through dialogue between Ludovica + Roberto Palomba and Margraf: a modular object with significant formal content created from a stone module that enhances the plastic, tactile and chromatic qualities of the material in a new way. Since it is not the age of the material that matters but that of designers and their vision of the contemporary world: starting off from this concept, Ludovica Palomba describes her approach to the use of marble, commencing with knowledge of the processing techniques that every company and their machinery make available. It is only in this way that the mass production logic behind a design project can be aligned not only in terms of economic sustainability but also as regards the dimensional perfection of every item, notwithstanding the uniqueness assured by variations in the grain and colour of the material itself. Fence came into being thanks to this awareness: a simple module that involves very little waste in processing operations that can be assembled on a large scale in variable and potentially infinite dimensions by aligning solids (marble modules) with voids to generate a very lightweight effect and further possibilities for the development of this system. The Fior di Pesco Carnico® stone material used for Fence modules is a marble exclusive to Margraf with shades ranging from grey to pink and white with ivory veins and a coarse grain. Largely used for indoor and outdoor paving, flooring and cladding, it was used in many twentieth century Italian architectural projects including banks, stations, cinemas and theatres before earning a new reputation in the 1980s in the wake of applications in important international buildings. Ludovica and Roberto Palomba are architects and founded the Palomba Serafini Associates Studio in 1994. They contribute to and are art directors for a number of leading brands in the design world and have won numerous international prizes and awards for their work. Their work will continue beyond Fence. Video Ludovica Palomba Territorio&Design
