Beyond the Surface | OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture

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.

Ellen van Loon and Giulio Margheri
with Alex Tintea, Assem El-Cheikh, Federico Taiarol and Ron Zaum

Location: Milan, Italy
Client: SolidNature
Year: 2023
Status: Completed Program: Exhibition, 500sqm