Show Review
If I could distill this year’s Marmomacc show into one single word, it would be: onyx. This beautiful material was everywhere, in every shape and form: backlit, displayed in panels with book-matched veining, used as accents, or to clad entire walls. As a semi-precious material, one would expect it to appear only in high-end projects to create a wow-factor, but it was cleverly incorporated as a detail in “ordinary” situations, if such a thing could exist with natural stone!
Stone finishes too, continued to dominate and there were more on show than ever before. As well as the usual honed, brushed, bush-hammered, tumbled, flamed and split face finishes, there were combinations of the above, such as a flamed and brushed finish combined, which on the Brachot stand was described as “Letano” or “leather”. This is a wonderful cross between a polished and a honed surface, creating a matte surface while bringing to life the features of the material, which are sometimes lost with simple honing. A particularly striking new granite featured on the Citco stand with this finish was a black granite by the name of Matrix, which is sure to be in winner in the kitchen worktops and wall-cladding stakes. Another amazing material on this stand was a brown granite with smooth wood-grain veining – virtually indistinguishable from polished timber.
On another stand in Hall 10 where the marble and granite kings reign, was a magnificent façade complete with colonnades and friezes, fashioned entirely from what appeared to be a single block of Belgian Black marble. This was an awesome display of both material and machine capability and indicated that the possibilities with natural stone are endless.
The other exciting development for me was the new varieties of travertine on show and the different applications of this wonderfully versatile material. Given that like many other stone suppliers, we work extensively with this material, it was a welcome revelation. The new travertine shades incorporate more variable veining and rich brown, yellow and terracotta tones such as Hurok Marble’s Leonardo: perfect for projects such as barn conversions or country cottages. Travertine Bros showed a Giallo travertine in a new guise with a combined bush hammered-flamed finish to create a warm, rustic effect. Elsewhere on travertine stands the mosaics have now gone in a very contemporary direction and the split faced finish continues to feature strongly across the board in both marble and travertine.
French limestones were particularly prominent this year, with both the Rocamat and Pierres de Bourgogne stands showing larger slabs for flooring such as 800 x 400 sizes in a variety of finishes which make these ideal for entrances and large reception rooms.
With the consistency of Crema Marfil continually in question, it was nice to see other cream marbles and limestones from Spain. Bempe’s Europa marble was a striking delicate cream with a subtle grey shadow – perfect for cladding a wall in a contemporary space, while Bateig’s limestones in warm hues were offered with a brushed finish making them suitable for high-traffic areas such as hallways and kitchens.
With the burgeoning spa industry in full swing and the influence this has had on residential bathrooms, there was the largest variety ever of stone baths, basins and shower solutions. As ever Scalvini and Margraf dominated with some wonderful shapes, materials and finishes which had to be seen to be believed. A solid white onyx bowl on the Margraf stand was a captivating focal point and they scored top marks for displaying new materials in cut outs in the shape of humans in various poses. Vaselli, always a key stand at Marmomaac, showed some breathtaking stone bath-ware. Their full-size stone Jacuzzi-style travertine bath complete with jets, had onlookers gazing in wonder.
Black and grey were the key themes once again: and dominated in both cladding and bath ware. With new finishes available these colours are given a rich texture which breaks up the sobriety of this colour palette. Split faced stone in slim rectangular brickwork shapes were especially effective as splash-backs behind basins and used to create stunning accents.
No stone exhibition is complete without the flamboyant Luigi Antolini, and this year the theme was “diamonds”. The centrepiece of their restricted-entry stand was an enormous dark green marble swimming pool upon which two models clad in diamond trimmed bikinis swung too and fro. Precious pieces of stone were fashioned into fine necklaces which were displayed in glass stands in the entrance.
On the machinery front, there has never been a better time for stone-masons, natural stone companies and worktop manufacturers. CNC’s are now more straightforward to use and with more and more varieties available, they are within reach of most small to medium companies. Features such as memory banks holding details on manufacturer’s main sink templates and Windows-based programming formats are not new but more widespread – making the operation of these hefty machines easier than ever.
Continuing advances in lifting technology, cranage and extra features on bridge saws were much in evidence, all serving to make the handling of stone slabs easier. Even quarrying machines appeared somehow more streamlined. While several halls worth of machinery cannot be reviewed adequately in this space, what is clear is that cutting and processing systems are now largely computer driven, contributing to greater precision and accuracy as well as reduced turnaround times and manual labour. In this vein, the sight of a large robot chiselling a lump of polystyrene into a delicate human face pretty much summed up were the stone industry is headed. Bernini and Michaelangelo need not worry though – the human touch is still hard to beat.
October 12, 2007