Stone, to resist the ephemeral

The great architect swears eternal love to marble and arouses the enthusiasm of the audience of the International Fair of Carrara. To design properly, it takes a new Renaissance

“Stone, to resist the trivialisation and the ephemeral that rule the world of design. These big marble blocks arouse in every architect powerful feelings, the attraction to use it for a present that will continue over time, that is, for the future”.
Mario Botta or ‘stone mon amour’. The great Swiss architect has used it lavishly and everywhere. So nothing could be easier for him than openly declare his passion, as he spoke today at the International Fair of Carrara at a conference about a very apt subject (Marble and stone in a new Renaissance) before an enthusiastic audience of multiple generations of architects, designers, businessmen, all keen, very keen, on listening to the word of such a world-known guru.
Botta has all but fallen short of the expectations, skilfully using intricate, powerful concepts and images: stone as a bulwark against the rampant ephemeral, or declaring his deep beliefs about the European cities, the richest and most attractive in which one can live, due to the simple, unique fact that they are the fruit of historical stratifications and memories like no other place in the world.

“Stone”, he added, “is an essential material to give a new lease of life to a city. Carrara itself could become an illustrious example of the Renaissance of a local cultural fabric. One should only fit some new buildings in the old city plan, to make the most of the modern, skilful way of using stone. But culturally a new Renaissance relying on stone can only refer back to the man of Renaissance, to the brains that knew how to master every step of the process, from the design to the development. We must therefore find again that unity of knowledge, which has now been replaced by specialisation, i.e. the separation between the disciplines, which is also a sort of vertical separation”.

What’s the alternative? Otherwise, we risk building a poorer, more miserable architecture. The risk is clear if one fails to understand the need that the architect and the artist work in mutual consultation again, as both are called to find common working methods in every building feature, whether it is a space or a material. When the architect offers quality, he proposes an interpretation that will certainly enrich the artist. And vice versa, of course.

Botta thinks that architectural design must enhance the connection between the building and its surroundings. And that to surrender a building to a future worthy of its name, the building must be made of strong, important materials that are the witnesses of their time. What better than stone to fulfil all these needs? Stone is durable, strong, simple, it is attractive in its shades and colours, and it is also a witness to the design concepts that respect the local features. So it’s better to use local stone for such harmony to be perfect.

“But no exaggerations”, warned Botta, “No rash actions. Stone, yes, but stone from other areas is fine as well, if its aesthetic, physical and mechanical qualities fit in with the local colours and traditions”. The architect proved all this by showing many buildings designed by him all over the world, where he lavishly used marble and stone. A wide-ranging view to explain how stone, if used cleverly and with architectural propriety, can live very well anywhere.