As part of the events surrounding the recent AIA Convention and Expo in Washington, DC, a group of more than 50 architects toured the Embassy of Italy in an initiative sponsored by Marmomacc, the international stone fair that takes place every fall in Verona, Italy. The architects were “alumni” of the AIA-accredited “Designing with Natural Stone” program that is held in conjunction with Marmomacc, and they received a thorough background on the stonework of the embassy, which was inaugurated in 2000.
The tour was led by Luca Gori, who was originally part of the design team with Piero Sartogo Architetti of Italy. Later, after construction began in 1996, he became a consultant to the Embassy on the project. In that capacity, he performed quality-control of the stonework, personally signing each of the nearly 42,000 pieces of Pietra Rosa di Asiago stone used on the exterior.