the Most Material...

Stone which is the most important building material is a present given from Nature to Human being has been using since ancient years. Stone has been using as column, fireplace, statue and also flooring and covering material because of being nature, variations of texture and color, harmony of other building materials, and also ability of process and become an indicator of prestige and civizalization.

http://www.stonex.com.tr/default.asp

First Steps of Mankind

The first cultural steps of mankind are reflected in a material which is unique in its natural consistency, its variety and its durability: dimension stone. Whether one looks at the first cave paintings, the pyramids built in the 3rd millennium B.C., Roman palaces and statues or the skyscrapers of the next millennium, dimension stone continues to play a leading and enriching role in our lives.
http://www.euroroc.net/

Lapis, my dear!

Lapis lazuli (sometimes abbreviated to lapis) is a deep blue semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.

Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BC, Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used for the eyebrows on the funeral mask of King Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapis_lazuli}

Light & Sunlight...

(September 2013) Light and shade can be used as design elements in such a way that sun rays create a changing pattern. The same effect can be created without sunlight using only the third dimension jutting out of the wall’s surface as demonstrated...

mia-pinnacle-awards-light-and-dark-in-a-three-dimensional-natural-stone-wall

MYTHIC MARBLES PRESENTED...

Stone Group International, leader  marble company in Grecce, exporter in 63 countries, this year at Marmomacc 2013 presents “Mythic Marbles”, HALL 10, E7-S7.

These marbles are not touched by time. They retain their eternity inside them.

The moment we look into these stones, time stands still.  Related to Greek Mythology they carry Heritage and the Myth.

Besides their obvious magic and beauty, “Mythic Marbles” carry a vast heritage through all cultures and times.

Passed on from generation to generation, they build the present moment. They contribute building the future.

In Stone Group International, our biography views our philosophy.

Our envisioned future is what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create.

INFO: www.stonegroup.gr
info@stonegroup.gr
 

Marbling Old Papers

September 2013

The aim of a joint project of Portugal’s Cevalor Center for Natural Stone Technology and the Universidade Lusófona of Lisbon was to open new markets for Portugal’s stone branch by means of innovative product design. Bachelor and master students of the university under the patronage of Professor Sofia Áquas were given the task of designing every-day items capable of being mass produced in natural stone.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/22/product-design-in-portuguese-natural-stone/

Mirrored Skin

New Contemporary Art Museum for Buenos Aires, Argentina, designed by Batay-Csorba Architects, surely takes advantage of the long but narrow dockside of the renewed waterfront. Building’s skin is mirrored therefore the envelope mimics the surrounding while representing a clear sign of the renewal of the neighborhood.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/mirrored-skin-contemporary-museum-acts-as-catalyst-for-public-space/

 

Orchideorama

The vivid construction of Orchideorama by Plan B Architects + JPRCR Architects, bridges the gap between the architecture and living organisms, the artificial and man-made and the nature. Wood and steel honeycomb structure, derived from the drawing of 14 orchids which are centered on the columns, aims to erase any distinction between those two worlds, accepting them as a unity that allows architecture to be conceived as a spatial and environmental organization highly related to the processes of life.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/unique-botanic-garden-experience-in-medellin-colombia-wood-and-steel-floating-honeycomb-structure/

An Apotheosis of a Marble

An apotheosis of natural stones colours, Opus Motus is a collection of circular and dynamic marble inlays which can be activated manually by the public with a simple lever-mechanism. The various colours of the marble tesserae, which were selected with the same attention and care of the ancient "stone painters", will come apart through the rotating movement providing new and impressive shapes and colours to the observer.

http://www.lithosdesign.com/en/news_articolo.aspx?id=433

a Minaret Telecommunication

RTA Office’s design for Telecommunication Tower for Istanbul is left to the citizens and to their free interpretation – the form suggests it could be a minaret sculpted by the wind or a twenty-first century lighthouse or none of the above. However, architects at RTA office strongly believe that the success of the idea depends on the way the designers understand the site. Therefore their proposal comes as a response to this very specific and strategically important point which bridges the gap between Europe and Asia, merging cultures and continents.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/telecommunication-tower-for-istanbul-is-sculpted-by-the-wind-rta-office/

Lithic Tree

Lithic Tree is the name Prof. Giuseppe Fallacara of Bari University and executing French-based SNBR Company gave his construction idea suitable even for exhibition halls. Natural stone modules can be interlocked with the aid of stressed steel ropes through the middle of the elements.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/11/marmomacc-hall-7b-is-showing-new-ideas-for-natural-stone/

Stone and marble Great Transformists

 The greatest? Among construction and furnishing materials, most probably. Because they always have been (or lend themselves to be, innately). And not only because of all the possibilities granted by marble restoration...

http://blog.lithosdesign.com/marble-restoration-no-marble-transformation/

Earth and Stones in Dust

(September 2013) 65 million years ago, the Earth was ravaged by tsunamis, a huge dust cloud darkened the skies and acid rain fell on plants and animals. These events marked the latest mass extinction and the creeping end for more than 50 percent of all species on Earth. Not even the dinosaurs would survive this apocalypse. These events were most likely caused by an asteroid approximately 10 kilometers across that impacted the Earth in the area of today’s Gulf of Mexico, scarring the planet’s surface with a crater over 170 kilometers wide.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/09/deflecting-asteroids-from-their-way-to-earth/

Inevitable Dilemma

Tom Benard’s project for his final thesis at Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, France, challenges the inevitable dilemma that has always existed between human and architectural conditions. In the words od the author, Organ of Evolution how the project is named, tends to speculate on the opportunities offered to mankind by analyzing trans-humanism as a contemporary expression of mysticism.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/human-cellular-growth-used-to-produce-algorithmic-architecture/

a Glorious Restoration

Southern Jewel” was the name Texans fondly gave the Harris County Courthouse originally completed in 1910. And rightly so, as recently came to light: work on the building’s exterior and public spaces inside restored its original appearance and showed the full glory of rich marble splendor as might be expected of story-book palace.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/06/houstons-harris-county-courthouse-in-texas-has-been-restored-to-its-original-marble-glory/

Andriivskyi descent in Kyiv

The competition for young architects on the Andriivskyi descent in Kyiv, Ukraine, aimed to create a concept for the former Yunist factory. The site redevelopment competition terms determined the cultural space as 10-15 per cent of the area linked to the Andriivskyi descent, and the rest of the one hectare was for commercial use. The competition provided the design of multifunctional cultural space with integrated chamber music hall.

 

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/the-kyiv-culture-space-on-andriivski-descent-ukraine/

Sculptures of Zimbabwe

The art of sculpting stone must have been in full bloom already back then. Sculptures of Zimbabwean birds have been found and now adorn the national flag. The stone was a type of soapstone known as „Springstone“.

Zimbabwe calls a number of unusual stone types its own. The jet-black Nero Assoluto granite is a prime example of commercially important export stone.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/04/sculptor-gedion-nyanhongo-has-chosen-love-as-the-central-theme-for-his-artwork/

The Void Tower

Brandon Sampson’s Fifth Year Thesis at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won the “Best of Show” Award this month. It addresses the contemporary urban condition of downtown Los Angeles and introduces a way to take advantage of its voided urban fabric. The Void Tower is a visionary and iconic project for downtown Los Angeles that brings together multiple different types of complex program to create a living, working and social place.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/void-tower-downtown-los-angeles-ca/

Sculpture Garden

September 2013

Beginning September 9, 2013, The Museum of Modern Art’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden will be open free of charge to the general public daily, from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. The early morning hours will be in effect year-round, weather permitting. The public can enter the outdoor space directly through the west gate on West 54 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Coffee and beverages will be available for purchase.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/01/free-access-for-early-birds-to-momas-sculpture-garden/