IMM Carrara cites outstanding stone architecture

Recently, the winners of the Marble Architectural Awards (MAA) competition were announced by the program's organizer, Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara S.p.A (IMM Carrara). The competition was open to architects who had completed projects using a significant amount of natural stone in Australia and South America as well as central and Southern Africa. Also, participants had the option of submitting their work in three categories - exteriors, interiors or urban landscape.

First place in the exteriors category went to Hector Mejia Velez, Mauricio Gaviria, R. Juan Felipe and Uribe de Bedout for their design of the Crematorium and Ashes Temple in Medellin, Columbia, which utilized Columbian stone. In the interiors division, Jeff Walker of Denton-Corker & Marshal won first place for his design of 363 George Street in Sydney, Australia, where he combined European marble with Brazilian and Australian granites. Cesar Pelli & Associates was also recognized in the interiors category for its work on the Boston Bank head offices in Buenos Aires. Another award in this category also went to Carmen West of Carmen West European Design for the Riverside government office complex in Nelspruit-Mpumalanga, South Africa.

In the urban landscape category, Mario Schjetnan and Jose Luis Perez were awarded for their design of the Golf Club in Malinaco, Mexico, which was primarily comprised of a local volcanic stone. Ana Luisa Petrik Magalhaes was also recognized in this category for the design of the Morro Da Conceicao quarter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Another award winner was Isis Bustamante Duenas for Las Malvinas Distrito De Santa Anita in Peru.

According to IMM Carrara, the winners were chosen from among 61 entries. The designs submitted ranged from ministries, inter-national hotels and museums to office buildings and prestigious villas. The winning projects were included in the official catalog at Carraramarmotec, which was held from May 31 to June 3 in Marina di Carrara, Italy.

The international panel of judges included IMM President Eng. Luigi Danesi; Arch. Giancarlo Cacciatori representing the Italian National Council of Architects (CAN); Prof. Fritz Sellinger from the Faculty of Architecture in Darmstadt, Germany; Prof. Alberto Breschi from the Faculty of Architecture in Florence, Italy; and Arch. JÂ¿rdi Farando representing the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA).