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Photograph by Marco CappellettiCourtesy of OMA and SolidNature
Beyond the Surface
Ellen van Loon and Giulio Margheri
with Alex Tintea, Assem El-Cheikh, Federico Taiarol and Ron Zaum
For its second participation at the Milan Design Week, SolidNature commissioned OMA to design an
installation that explores the journey of natural stone from its geological formation to the finished
product.
Located in the 19th
-century Casa Maveri in the Brera District, the exhibition is divided in two sections:
an underground sequence of rooms showcasing the processes through which stone is formed,
extracted and processed; and an open-air collection of stone furniture in the palazzo’s garden,
designed by invited artists. In the basement, stone is present as large, rough slabs that clad the
rooms completely, as if in a journey underneath the Earth’s crust. In the garden, meanwhile, stone
becomes a backdrop for the different activities hosted during the week. The two spaces are
connected via a sky-blue onyx volume that contains a staircase made of multicoloured marble.
These photographs are made by Marco Cappelletti.
Courtesy of OMA and SolidNature
Milan, 18 April 2023 – For this year’s edition of Milan Design Week, Ellen van Loon and Giulio Margheri have
designed an installation commissioned by SolidNature taking place in the basement and garden of the neo-
Romanesque Casa Maveri in the Brera District.
The basement features a sequence of rooms which illustrates the process of formation and processing of natural
stone. In collaboration with different invited designers, the garden showcases their individual take on processing
natural stone into objects.
Ellen van Loon, Partner, OMA: “This year’s exhibition is about nature’s power; it gives an impression of the
processes of compression and solidification that led to the formation of natural stone as we know it today.”
Giulio Margheri, Associate, OMA: “The installation gives a taste of the different potential treatments, applications
and approaches of designing with natural stone.”
David Mahyari, CEO, SolidNature: “We are excited to be working with Ellen and Giulio again for the second
installation of our presence in Milan, and to continue to develop our longstanding relationship with OMA.”
The exhibition is on view during Milan Design Week from 17 to 23 April, at Via Cernaia 1, Milan.
Beyond the Surface follows on from Monumental Wonders, SolidNature’s first installation designed by OMA,
which took place at Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022.
Photograph by Arthur Wong
Photograph by Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA and SolidNature
