Every year, as part of the education program at the Marmomacc trade fair in Verona, Italy, the show organizer, Veronafiere, puts together an impressive continuing education program for architects from North America and around the world. This includes a broad range of hands-on education, from quarry and factory visits to tours of Italy’s historic architectural sites. Since Stone World is a co-sponsor of the program, I have been lucky enough to tag along with this group for the past decade or so.

For me, this tour is generally a chance to see the latest developments in large-scale stone production. Whether it is modern quarrying methods and equipment or the latest block-processing machinery, this tour always gives me an opportunity to see some of the most up-to-date technology at use in the field today.