No design is more beautiful than one created by nature. With this premise, the designer Alessandro La Spada has created for the showroom of the Italian company Antolini, twelve spaces in which the veins and colours of natural stone are combined with the designs that come from skins, feathers or shells of an animal. The result is an inspired harmony that highlights as never before the beauty of natural stone. 

The Macael Awards, organised by the Association of Businessmen of Marble in Andalucia celebrate the 30 anniversary. The winners of this year´s edition are the following:

When thinking of natural stone in a home, we need not limit ourselves only to think which stone to use for the floors and the bathroom walls, or the type of granite for our counter-top. Stone can be present in all the house, providing a sensation of warmth and elegance. Garden pots in the entrance, lamps in the hallway, or even bookcases and shelves: all is possible with natural stone.

When we think of furniture in natural stone what comes to our mind is the idea of elements that are rigid and cold, with limited possibilities of design. But that is not so.

The award for Best Communicator organised by the fair Marmomacc in Verona has its objective to recognise the efforts made by exhibitors when designing their stand with the aim of presenting their products in the most effective and attractive manner. This year, 2016, the tenth edition of these awards was celebrated and the winners in the different categories were the following:

With all the daily talk of economic crisis all over the world, the high level of indebtedness, unemployment, slow economic growth, it is easy to forget there are markets which are actually doing quite well in the natural stone industry. We do not refer to a relatively small emerging market which has been growing impressively for about 5 years and which is catching the eye of the world. We refer here to no less than Germany, a country of 80 million people and with as solid an economy as is possible in these current times.

Note- This article has been updated in July 2024. It was first published in 2016.