157 – Marmoreal
Marmoreal
2014
Engineered marble
Produced by Dzek
Marmoreal is a high specification architectural material for use in a wide spectrum of interior applications. The graphic and immersive visual qualities of this engineered marble have also been harnessed in a series of six pieces of furniture, developed to illustrate the material’s capabilities beyond the typical two-dimensional expressions common to architectural surfaces.
Composed of four historically significant Veronese marbles, Marmoreal is a material exploration that celebrates the individual qualities of these stones while acknowledging that the sum of its parts makes for something far more compelling.
The word Marmoreal means ‘real marble’, but can be used to describe objects or materials that look like real marble but aren’t necessarily so. Marmoreal is composed of approximately 95 per cent marble and 5 per cent polyester resin to make for a stronger, less porous and more durable stone than natural marbles. This engineering allows for an original material language with a high visual value that skilfully balances tradition with modernism.
After extensive material investigations and compositional studies, I arrived at the idea of using large marble rocks as the bulk of the mix to emphasise the inherent stoniness of man-made stone, rather than the usual small pieces of aggregate typical to terrazzo.
The following four Italian marbles were selected for the final recipe, most of which are from the Verona region; Rosso Verona, Giallo Mori, Verde Alpi and Bianco Verona.
Rosso Verona is a red nodular limestone of the Jurassic period from prevalent to Verona and the signature stone used in much of Veronese classical architecture. Its colour ranges from light to dark red and is characterised by fine circular patterns and stylolitic veins.
Giallo Mori is a bright, ochre-yellow marble from Tyrol, a bordering region of Northern Italy, that has both light and dark veins with the occasional small white patches. Cross sections will often appear flat and bright, providing Marmoreal with its extreme graphic quality.
Verde Alpi is a traditional marble from Torino, selected for its intense green colour and contrasting white quartz veins.
Bianco Verona is used as the background matrix of Marmoreal. This traditional Veronese marble is characterised by its opacity and textural flatness. Bianco Verona can vary in colour from off-white to cream to pink and grey. This stone provided the best contrast when compared to its more famous counterparts, Carrera and Botticino, to support the strong colours of the other three marbles.
Marmoreal furniture, was designed around the standard Marmoreal tile sizes, all of which are economically cut from a full-size slab measuring 1.2m x 3m.
All enquiries marmoreal.at.dzekdzekdzek.com