The jury
examining the over sixty projects entered in the Marble Architectural
Awards (MAA) 2008 competition have chosen the winners giving in-depth
assessments in terms of the trends in the use of natural stone in
Australia, Central and South America and southern Africa, the areas
concerned for this year's competition.
The Awards, organised by
the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara, are held in a different
geographical area each year with a special every six in Italy. Now in
its 24th year, the competition is considered a must for architects and
designers who have found "uses and solutions showing absolute
excellence" in natural stone.
The six-year-long cycle allows for
a good look at the developments and trends underway in the world of
architecture and the use of natural stone in the three different
categories: exteriors, interiors and urban landscape. The jury met at
the IMM head offices in Carrara and was composed of Mariella Zoppi,
professor at the faculty of architecture at Florence University and
Chairman of the Fine Arts Academy in Carrara, the IMM Chairman Giorgio
Bianchini and Sauro Cerri, from the scientific committee of the "Carlo
L. Ragghianti " foundation. The jury all agreed on the fact that the
use of natural stone in projects conveys prestige and that white marble
adds particular distinction and value to projects or individual
elements thereof.
Hence the very prominent trend to use marble
in residential buildings, especially high profile villas. Naturally,
thanks to the presence and work of many Italian entrepreneurs who have
set up extraction and processing businesses all over the world, there
is a trend to use local materials that are combined, especially in
interiors, with quality pieces in white marble or other Italian
materials. This trend is seen above all in countries such as South
Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico where there is "a great variety of
architectural languages ranging from Asian minimalism to rationalism,
to local architectural traditions".
"Once again we have seen
that the great tradition of using Apuan marble is present in all styles
and all contexts 每 said the IMM Chairman Giorgio Bianchini as he
presented the results of the competition to the press 每 and the
particular attention of architects/designers in its use to enhance the
effects of local materials proves that white marble still has a great
future, especially in quality architecture and design".
Among
the award-winning projects are those by well-known designers in their
areas, while others show great design vitality even in countries which
may seem of lesser importance and others which are already examples of
great architecture.
Among these is the Casa de Meditacion (first
prize in the exteriors category) by Gerard and Carlos Pascal in Mexico
City, completed in December 2006, where Grissal granite from Spain has
been used.
In the Interiors category the jury assigned the first
prize ex-aequo to the Argentineans Atelman 每 Fourcade- Tapia for the
Museo de Arte Latino Americano in Buenos Aires and the already famous
MALBA for which Labradorite and Gris Mara (Argentinean granites),
Carrara white, Crema Marfil (Spain) and the German stone Jura Gold have
been used.
The other ex-aequo went to the group of Mexican
architects Zd+a (Yuri Zagorin Alazraki, Sindy Martinez Lortia, Walter
Lingard, Francisco Garcia Marquez) for the Casa del Puente completed in
2007 in Sierra Amatepec (Mexico) where Mexican travertine has been used
together with the Italian Verde Saint Denise.
A Special Mention
for the interiors went to the Mexican office BGP Arquitetura for the
CASA AV built in Mexico City using the Mexican stones Recinto and Gris
Chiluca combined with the Greek Thasos white.
The projects
entered in the urban landscape category were very interesting too,
showing particular attention to the use of local stone in large urban
spaces highlighted by interesting colour schemes.
The first
prize was given to Luis da Silva and Kevin Johnston, South Africans who
designed the NLC - Northern Cape Legislature a Kimberly using South
African stones and slates: Agra red, Silver Blue, Pamas Green, Rich
Autumn (slates) and Kimberlite.
The announcement of the winners
is the first part of the competition process which concludes with the
awards-winning ceremony at the CarraraMarmotec 2008, the International
Exhibition for Marble, Technology and Design (29 May 每 1 June), where
the fully illustrated official catalogue will be presented featuring
the characteristics of the individual projects and where the winning
architects will illustrate the aspects and design philosophy of the
award-winning projects and the motivations behind the choice of
materials.
Again in 2008 the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine's
partners in the organisation of the event are Toscana Promozione and
the Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara with the support of Pietra Naturale e
Pietra Autentica and important private sponsors such as Gemignani e
Vanelli Marmi Snc, Henraux Spa, La facciata Srl, Sagevan Marmi Srl and
Savema Spa that see the MAA as an indispensable promotions tool.﹛ (cn-stonenet.com)
