Our participation in Stones Venue represents far more than a material contribution: it is a concrete commitment to enhancing the value of Brescian stone within the contemporary urban context.

 

The project – which won the BigMat International Architecture Award 2025 for Italy and received a nomination for the EUmies Awards 2026 – reintroduces natural stone into the language of modern architecture, restoring its structural role, not merely an ornamental one, through the use of monolithic blocks that express strength, identity and versatility.

 

The collaboration with Associates Architecture, the Municipality of Brescia, the Botticino Stone District and all the partners involved was essential in bringing to life a project capable of combining tradition and innovation. An intervention that tells the story of local quarrying culture and invites institutions and citizens alike to recognize the value of Brescian stone heritage.

 

Stones Venue is the result of a shared journey involving 11 leading quarrying companies from the Brescia and Bergamo areas, along with 9 stone excellence producers from the two territories. The Cooperativa Operai Cavatori del Botticino took part by donating two monolithic blocks of Botticino Classico marble: one supports the pavilion roof, while the other hosts Madre Cava, the sculpture by artist Francesco Paterlini.

 

The decision to locate the work within the Parco delle Cave is no coincidence. This area, once dedicated to gravel extraction, has now been regenerated and returned to the city as a green space.
Its direct visual connection with the quarry basin creates a powerful symbolic link: a dialogue between the industrial past and a sustainable present, between the place from which the stone originates and the work that now represents it.
A true act of giving back to the territory.

 

Stones Venue is not only an architectural work, but also an invitation to rediscover and enhance our stone in both public and private projects, integrating it into urban and infrastructural development.
It is a space designed for the community: a place for gathering, shelter and social interaction within the park.

 

For us, it is a cultural manifesto that celebrates quarrying memory and transforms it into the future, promoting Brescian stone as a living resource of the territory’s historical, geological and productive identity.

 

A collective project that brings our Botticino Classico marble – and with it, the identity of our community – onto the international stage of contemporary architecture.