Architettura

Emerge in particolare il favore verso il marmo apuano degli architetti americani

La giuria del MAA-Marble Architectural Award si è riunita venerdì 4 aprile 2003 presso la sede del centro direzionale dell’IMM - Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara S.p.a. per decretare i vincitori dell’edizione 2003 del concorso dedicata a opere architettoniche del Nord America.

Il MAA, giunto quest’anno alla diciannovesima edizione, è organizzato da IMM – Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara S.p.a. e da ICE – Istituto Nazionale per il Commercio Estero con il patrocinio di MIA – Marble Institute of America.

Sponsor dell’iniziativa sono Campolonghi Italia S.r.l. (Montignoso MS) e Antolini Luigi & Co. S.p.a. (Sega di Cavaion Vr). Il concorso è un’iniziativa annuale di carattere promozionale che si rivolge a architetti, progettisti, designers, esperti d’arredo urbano e decoratori di interni per diffondere presso di questi una migliore e più approfondita conoscenza dei materiali lapidei e dei loro impieghi. Viene premiato l’uso della pietra che ne enfatizzi l’eccellenza e venga inserito in una qualità architettonica complessiva.

Per l’edizione 2003 del MAA sono stati inviati milleottocento bandi di gara ai maggiori studi d’architettura del Nord America. Le numerose iscrizioni pervenute sono state tutte inviate da studi d’architettura di grande prestigio e rinomanza.

La giuria del MAA 2003 ha felicemente sottolineato la notevole qualità negli esterni insieme alle interessanti e innovative applicazioni negli interni delle opere partecipanti.

Nella sezione rivestimenti esterni non sembrerebbe tramontare il favore per edifici di grande altezza dove il progettista continua ad esercitare un approfondito studio dell’insieme e una particolare cura del dettaglio.

Originali e nuove soluzioni architettoniche hanno caratterizzato le opere concorrenti nella sezione II (decorazione di interni) dove emergono significative combinazioni di marmo e altri materiali; gli ambienti selezionati si segnalano per l’eleganza e la misura con le quali i prodotti lapidei sono applicati in spazi di grande scala.

La giuria ha operato in un clima di stretta e produttiva collaborazione pervenendo a verdetti unanimi; merito anche delle opere che hanno agevolato il lavoro dei membri con la loro intrinseca qualità.

La cerimonia di premiazione e le altre iniziative collegate al concorso (conferenze e seminari tecnici sull’impiego dei materiali lapidei) si terranno nell’ambito della fiera Carrara Marmotec – la più grande e importante esposizione internazionale per materiali, macchine e servizi del settore lapideo in tutto il mondo – che si svolgerà nel periodo 4-7 giugno 2003 presso la sede di Carrara Fiere.

They are works designed by prestigious architects; US architects still love the Apuan marble and companies that ensure top quality products.

The panel of the MAA Awards met last Friday 4^th April 2003 at the premises of the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara to select the winners of the 2003 Awards which this year were open to north American projects.

The awards, now in their nineteenth year, were organised by Internazionale Marmi e Macchine and the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) under the aegis of the MIA (Marble Institute of America).

The contest is held annually and has a promotional purpose; it is open to architects, designers, urban landscape designers and interior decorators for a better and wider knowledge of stone materials and applications. The prizes are awarded to designers who use stone in a way that emphasises its excellence and that is consistent with the overall quality of the design.

One thousand eight hundred announcements were sent out for the 2003 edition of the Awards to leading US architects’ firms, and the many entries all came from very prestigious and well-known names.

The panel was composed by Giancarlo Cacciatori, on behalf of the National Architects’ Council (CNA), Prof. Michael Charles Pinkston, professor at California State University, and architect Lewis Gilbert Koerner; Chair of the Corporate Committee at AIA, on behalf of the American Institute of Architecture (European Charter) and IMM President Luigi Danesi, IMM Deputy President Loris Barsi and IMM Director Cesare Nicolai on behalf of Internazionale Marmi e Macchine. The event was sponsored by Campolonghi Italia S.r.l. (Montignoso - MS) and Antolini Luigi & Co. S.p.a. (Sega di Cavaion), and Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara as the sole sponsoring bank.

The Awards consist of four sections: external facings, interior design, urban landscape and residential decoration, in which marble and granite have been used to very significant standards. North America is very interesting, since it has always been in this area, essential to Italian stone exports, that high-profile customers want great works to be built with plenty of marble and granite, which are regarded as essential materials, and it is here that all the leading firms work on the most prestigious works.

It was not simple, therefore, for the jury to take their pick amongst such outstanding works, but in the end they were satisfied of the good quality of the works competing in the exterior facings section as well as of the interesting and innovative applications of stone of the interior design section.
At the end of the works, at a press conference held at the IMM premises, the jury illustrated the results and the motivations of the prizes awarded, commenting the features of the works and the trends they identified.
In the external facings sections, high-rises seem to be still held in great favour, with designers developing the overall design with great care and attention for detail.
Original and new architectural solutions were found in most of the works competing for the interior decoration award, with some outstanding combinations of marble and other materials; the selected works stood out for the elegance and scale with which the stone materials were applied in large-size areas.
The jury awarded the prizes with unanimous decisions, something that should also be credited to the inherent quality of the works, which certainly made it easier for the jury to choose the winners.
Here’s the list of the winners, with an indication of the designers’ names, marble used and suppliers’ names.


SECTION I – EXTERNAL FACINGS

Equal first:
NEW REGISTRY OF THE ITALIAN EMBASSY TO WASHINGTON
Operating areas, diplomatic section, military section and representative areas of the New Registry of the Italian Embassy to Washington
Washington, Washington DC, USA
Work completed in 2000
Designed by: Piero Sartogo Architetti, Rome, Italy
Materials: stone - Rosa Asiago
Supplier: Pizzato e Colpo – Asiago (VI), Italy
Fabricator: Technostone S.r.l. – Vezzano Ligure (SP), Italy

Equal first:
MARYLIN MEDITATION CHAPEL
Portland, Oregon, USA
Work completed in 1992
Designed by: Thompson Vaivoda & Associates Architects, Inc., Portland, Oregon,USA
Materials: granite: Luna Pearl, Rosa Porrino, Black Absolute; marble: Bianco Carrara
Supplier and fabricator: F.lli Guarda, Paitone, Italy


SECTION II – INTERIOR DECORATION

Honourable mention to:
IDX TOWER AT FOURTH & MADISON
Office building
Seattle, Washington, USA
Work completed in 2002
Designed by: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, Seattle, Washington, USA
Materials: marble: Rosa Zarci, Rosa Verona Classic, Arabescato Michelangelo, Grigio Carnico
Supplier and fabricator: Freda S.r.l., Querceta (LU), Italy

Special mention to:
UBS TOWER
Office building
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Work completed in 2003
Designed by: Lohan Caprile Goettsch Architects, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Materials: granite: Blue Orissa, Samba White; marble: Calacatta Carrara, Grey Tapestry;, Bianco Gioia;
Supplier: Campolonghi Italia S.r.l., Montignoso (MS), Italy


SECTION III – URBAN LANDSCAPE

Honourable mention to:
55 SECOND STREET
Office building
San Francisco, California, USA
Work completed in 2002
Designed by: Heller Manus Architects, San Francisco, California, USA
Materials: granite Conquistador Dorato, Pannafragola; Impala Black; limestone: Yana
Supplier and fabricator: Campolonghi Italia S.r.l., Montignoso (MS), Italy


SECTION IV – RESIDENTIAL DECORATION
No prize awarded.

The prize-awarding ceremony and other related initiatives (conferences and technical seminars on the use of stone materials) will be held during CarraraMarmotec (4-7 June).