The great success of the “Stone is…” Forum promoted by PNA.
“Stone is… is an unfinished phrase. An open threshold onto a material that has always inhabited us, and still questions us today.” With these words, scientific coordinator Raffaella Laezza opened the First International Forum on Authentic Natural Stone, promoted by PNA and held on June 12–13 at the IUAV University of Venice.
Over the course of the two days, twelve internationally renowned guests, leading figures from disciplines that have the privilege of working with stone, shared their experiences and perspectives, each attempting to answer the Forum’s central question. The result was “a mapping of meanings that doesn’t claim to be exhaustive, but aspires to be inspiring,” in the words of PNA Network president Stefano Ghirardi.
From artisanal knowledge to art theory, from landscape-scale projects to iconic design pieces, from digital modeling to quarry management, from philosophical detours to practical consulting, stone revealed itself as a material that is “timeless” yet “alive,” both “texture” and “multidimensional,” “more” and “better,” at once “craft” and “commitment,” simultaneously “readymade landscape” and “space making.”
Or, as taught by master architect and special guest Peter Eisenman (thanked by the audience with a standing ovation) in an introspective analysis of his last major project, the City of Culture in Galicia, perhaps a single word cannot be found.
Stone is… is an unfinished phrase, and in that spirit, the conclusion of the PNA International Forum is only the beginning of a long journey of inspiration and discovery.
