From 25 to 28 of September, Santamargherita will be at Marmomac, the reference trade fair for the stone industry. Inside the exhibition area it will be possible to learn about the main innovations and trends in the world of marble, design and machining technologies.

• What new products will be on show at the Santamargherita stand?

Once again, inspiration comes from ancient crazy paving flooring, with an agglomerate similar to the Venetian terrace reinterpreted with a modern twist. The colour tone, with blue accents combined with golden shades, is in line with current trends.

• The theme of Marmomac 2019 is linked to the geodiversity of stone and its bond with the natural world. What does respect for the environment mean for Santamargherita?

Santamargherita has always paid attention to nature and the environment, respecting it both in the production phase, with the adoption of the necessary precautions for all the plants, and in creating materials that are perfectly suited for their required use, thanks to their very low emissions of volatile substances in the air. Having obtained LEED V4 credits is a clear demonstration of how Santamargherita products are also in line with the environmental, social and economic sustainability required by the strict standards of the US Green Building Council.

• Do you have a flagship product on which you will focus your customers’ attention?

Given the success of the last few years, we have decided to focus our attention on marble-based products and in particular on the Palladio line and the various recently produced custom colours.

• What are the expectations for this edition?

The marked imprint of the stand is aimed at all those who work as architects and designers in the retail field. However, the hope is to be able to talk to the largest possible audience and get feedback from different customer targets.

• How have the Santamargherita stands evolved over the years?

Santamargherita stands have always followed design and architecture trends. If we look at the past, the biggest change we can see is the type of exhibition: while once we limited ourselves to displaying the product (block, slab, tile, etc.), today the tendency is increasingly to show the final application and therefore the product in a potential installation.

• Not just stands: original creations were also designed during the trade fair, finding space even in different settings. We are referring, for example, to the Ping Pong Pang installation of 2015. How does the project come about? Are there any installations planned for this edition?

Architect Giorgio Canale, thanks to the exceptional technical characteristics and the flexibility of Santamargherita surfaces, has succeeded in creating a modern and unusual concept: a simple ping-pong table has thus become a work of art. Ping-Pong-Pang, the name of the project, is a 274x185x95 cm sculpture, made using Metropolis, one of the most important lines of Santamargherita quartz. The installation, created for the Marmomac trade fair, was displayed in Verona at the beginning of the “Liston”, in the picturesque background of “Piazza Bra” and in front of the Arena, theatre of memorable opera performances. The sculpture is dedicated to the opera, named after three characters from Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot: an aria of the work is also engraved on the side of the table. Many other projects have come to life, for Pavilion 1 of the fair, during the various editions, thanks to special collaborations: just think of the Palladio Moro bathtub, or of the Ciottoli in the Verde Alpi variant last year. This year we want to concentrate solely on the stand, focusing all our initiatives around it.

• The presence of Palladio in all its forms established in the stands of recent years. What were the most original applications?

Many objects have been created with SM Marble – Palladio: staircases, tables and coffee tables are just some of them. Certainly among those with the greatest impact, we can mention the chairs designed by the architect Victor Gingembre, and the composition of the bathtub and basins, developed in 2016 precisely for Pavilion 1 of the Marmomac trade fair.

• In what other trade fairs will Santamargherita take part in the coming months?

Santamargherita takes part in several editions of the Architect at Work trade fair, now a benchmark in the architecture and design world. This year alone we have been to Kortijk, Zurich and Hamburg, and in the coming months we will be in Milan and Turin as well. We will then be at two key trade fairs in the stone industry: in mid-October we will fly to Mexico for the CIHAC Expo, while at the end of November you will find us in Myanmar for Myanbuild. The events for the beginning of next year are also confirmed: Toronto and Las Vegas await us in January for IDS and KBIS, respectively.

The Editor