As many of us lament the lack of emphasis on craftsmanship in the stone industry, I would like to report on some very cool collaborations between stoneworking professionals and architects that I have witnessed over the past few months, many of which appear in this E-Newsletter. To start with, I once again took part in the Marmomacc Stone Academy now in its 14th edition, which takes place in conjunction with the Marmomacc trade fair in Verona, Italy. The event brings in an average of 30 architects from the U.S. and other nations, and it is an intensive week-long program that includes visits to stone quarries, gangsawing facilities, slab-processing plants and artisan stone workshops.
Since Stone World is a sponsor of the course, I have been fortunate to attend many of these excursions, and there is one common thread each time -- the architects LOVE learning about stone. They are incredibly curious about the entire process, and they want to learn as much as they can about every step of the process -- from material selection at the quarry to block processing to the type of technology used to create various finished products. The architects on this trip are not there to tour Italy and sample the wine -- although, admittedly, I may have seen a bottle or two being enjoyed. They are there to learn about the possibilities in natural stone.