Marmomacc 2004

September 6, 2004

   The 39th edition of the International Natural Stone and Technologies Exhibition on Oct. 7-10 at the Verona Exhibition Centre (Veronafiere) should again draw more than 50,000 attendees during its four-day run, maintaining its lead as the largest annual stone event in the world.
   Time’s a bit tight, but – with a bit of planning – it’s still possible to make the journey and experience Marmomacc, as well as the surrounding area of the Veneto in northern Italy.
   Last October, 56,128 members of the stone trade took in Marmomacc’s nine halls and outdoor slab-and-block exhibition. The combination of stone vendors and equipment/supply exhibitors covered 62,083 m²/668,285 ft², with the majority (62.2 percent) from Italy.
   The show is anything but an all-Italian affair, however, when it comes to the crowd milling through the aisles. If last year is any indication, you’ll find more than 19,000 people from outside Italy’s borders; it’s a mix of attendees from more than 110 countries, including the United States.
   Germany, in fact, gets much of the attention from Marmomacc this year, with the exhibition “Germany: the art of building in stone.” Displays and models will focus on 11 major German stone works, including I.M. Pei’s extension of the Deutches Historiches Museum in Berlin; part of the exhibition also details reconstruction of several areas of Berlin, including the Pariser Platz and Eberplatz public areas.
   In addition, Dr. Hans Stimmann, senatsbaudirektor (director of major public works) for Berlin will receive the Marmomacc 2004 Career Award during the stone exposition.
   The home country will also be featured with “Made in Italy,” an exhibition continuing during Marmomacc for showing innovation in the use of stone in interiors, featuring the work of eight top Italian designers and design firms.
   Marmomacc will also play host to several conference sessions during the event, including “Stone 2004,” a presentation on the worldwide economy of stone on Oct. 7. Other sessions include a presentation by the Australian Stone Advisory Association and a seminar on stone restoration, with a particular focus on the marble now undergoing work at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
   Getting to Verona isn’t as hard as it looks; the local Valerio Catullo airport at Villafranca, 12 kilometers from the city center and Marmomacc, feeds directly into several larger international airports, including Amsterdam (Schiphol), Vienna (Vienna International), Munich (Franz-Jozef Strauss), Paris (Charles de Gaulle), London (Gatwick), Rome (Leonardo daVinci/Fiumicino), Venice (Marco Polo) and Milan (Linate).
   Verona is also within a day’s drive of plenty of European air destinations, including Munich, Vienna, Zurich and Geneva. It’s also possible to rent and drive from some of the major Italian airports, but in-country rates may far outstrip those offered by rental outlets in surrounding countries.
   The main information for Marmomacc is its own website at www.marmomacc.it.