Journal

The Region Puglia will once again attend the show and is organising an exhibition and a convention to outline the evolution of local stones and the architectures where they are characteristically used.

In the wake of huge success at previous editions, the Puglia Region (Department for Economic Development and Technological Innovation) has reconfirmed institutional participation at the 42nd edition of Marmomacc, the International Natural Stone and Technology Show.
The event is scheduled in Verona 4-7 October.
“Marmomacc is a vital occasion,” said Sandro Frisullo, Councillor for Economic Development and Technological Innovation, “for all producers, operators and decision makers seeking to come to the fore in an increasingly specialised and competitive context. Puglia and its ‘system’ will attend once again, not only to enchance its excellent stone materials but also to promote the history of territorial traditions associated with their processing and, especially, communicate awareness of evolution in technologies and contemporary architectures characterising their conversion.”
The Puglia Region, through the Regional Department for Economic Development, intends to play a major role at Marmomacc 2007 with an institutional stand to promote excellence and the potential development scopes for the Pugliese stone industry.
The special focus on trade operators during the show will once again see the Puglia Region promote an important exhibition and specialist convention dealing with topics involving Puglia Stones, embracing the traditional architecture characterising the historic landscape and works of contemporary architecture.

STONE IN PUGLIA

Introduction
Ever since Man began to mark his modifications of the landscape with the primal gesture of raising stones (dolmens) bearing witness to his passage, Puglia has always played a fundamental role in the creation of works that have characterized the history of architecture through to modern times.
Superb examples include the remains of Greek and Roman buildings all over the territory, the imposing Romanesque and Gothic works in Trani stone, extraordinary cathedrals and mighty military fortifications, the elegance of the Renaissance and its palaces and churches, not to mention the Baroque in Lecce characterised by the inherent virtuosity of the “tenera” stone from the Cursi quarries and no less the structural experiments in Apricena stone in the project by Renzo Piano for the “Aula Liturgica” dedicated to Padre Pio.
Another equally valid aspect concerns the continual and spontaneous modification of the minor architectures that nevertheless indelibly mark the Pugliese landscape – the “trulli” and dry walls of Valle d’Itria, the craggy churches in the Messapia area, the farmsteads and large rural hamlets in the Gargano area, till to the contemporary redevelopment of public spaces and buildings.
Puglia the whole region is hallmarked by the power of stone and by its capacity to narrate – through the way it is processed – the history of changes in the characteristic landscape and architecture.
The idea of attending the 2007 edition of the Verona International Natural Stone Exhibition started from this introduction to develop a project to highlight the character of the Region and the close relationship that has always linked stone and landscape modifications from the remote past to our own days.

Presentation of the Exhibition
This exhibition, coordinated by Domenico Potenza, will illustrate – through a section introducing the historical territories in Region – those works of architecture over recent years that best express the relationship between historic tradition and contemporary innovation. The various areas will be outlined to highlight the special features of their materials, processing operations and products.
Each territory will be exemplified by works of contemporary architecture (especially the most important as regards widespread and informed use of stone materials).
These territories have already been identified by the Region on many occasions during events promoting and valorising stone products and particularly focus on areas around Apricena, Trani, Corato Minervino, Cursi and Lecce.
Every work will be illustrated by four panels carefully highlighting construction details, concerning the use of stone materials. Each section will be presented by two introductory panels to explain the relationship between territory, materials and the works themselves.

The exhibition will also include:
a Video alongside the exhibit panels outlining an ideal tour around Puglia taking in the places and works of most interest to emphasise the strong bond between the nature of local stones and the image of its landscape. This will be a short video (10 minutes) and will provide an introduction to exhibition prior to the display of the panels.
a catalogue embracing all exhibition materials complete with inter-active IT support for playing the video analysing the specific aspects of all the works included in the event. The catalogue will include an historic introductory essay by Amerigo Restucci, a presentation of the work by Alessandro Anselmi for Parabita Cemetery (LE) and an introduction to the works of contemporary architecture by Alfonso Acocella.

The Convention
The inauguration of the exhibition in Verona will be celebrated by a convention to which not only take part the curators of the exhibition but also experts and academics who have always focused on studies and research into these and related topics.
Speakers invited to discuss the central theme of the exhibition include:
Prof. Amerigo Restucci, IUAV, Venice
Prof. Alfonso Acocella, University of Ferrara
Prof. Alessandro Anselmi, University of Rome
The development of the project and the realisation of all related materials form the initial contents for programming a specialised communication area for “Stones of Puglia” in existing and future regional internet portals. They will outline the history and the places of the Region, its materials and processing operations, projects and architecture, designers and conversion companies, activities and events.

The Award
The convention will also host the presentation of a special award to an historic work in Lecce stone – Parabita Cemetery (province of Lecce) – to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its design. This work has exerted important influences on the current history of Italian architecture and still retains all its fascination and design impact. Architect Alessandro ANSELMI (GRAU Group) has been invited for to illustrate the special features of such an important project for stone architecture of those years.