Architects: Associates Architecture
Area: 350 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Nicolò Galeazzi
Structure: Opera Mista, Opera Mista, Marco Zanardelli
Category: Installations & Structures, Public Architecture
Team: Nicolò Galeazzi, Martina Salvaneschi, Mariachiara Cocchiararo, Claudia Crotti, Paola Federici, Nicole Tombini
Artistic Intervention: Francesco Paterlini
Partners: Comune di Brescia, Comune di Botticino
Suppliers: Bresciaferro SRL, Gruppo Faustini, Servizio Gru, Luciani Trasporti – Servizio Gru
Client: Consorzio Produttori Marmo Botticino Classico
Companies: Cave Carli SRL, Cooperativa Operai Cavatori del Botticino, Eredi Martinelli SPA, EURO MAS SRL, Lombarda Marmi SRL, Marini Marmi, Marmi Ghirardi SRL, Marmi Classic Botticino SRL, Porfido Pedretti, Repen Marmi di Bauce Fortunato, Terreni&Coa SRL
Sponsor: GB Costruzioni, Gruppo Faustini, LOUD, Transvecta SRL
Country: Italy
Stones Venue public shelter designed in Brescia’s Parco delle Cave has reactivated a former sand mining site through a commemorative architectural intervention. Developed by the Consorzio Produttori Marmo Botticino Classico in collaboration with the Municipality of Brescia, the project honors the geological identity of Bergamo and Brescia by integrating stone varieties native to both territories. Completed through the contributions of eleven companies over a five-year period, the shelter features nine monolithic pillars, each carved from discarded stone blocks donated by regional producers. These include Arabescato Orobico, Ceppo di Gré, Nuvolato, and multiple types of Breccia and Botticino marble. The structure is anchored by an additional hybrid pillar—a sculpture by Francesco Paterlini—combining Marmo di Botticino Classico and Ceppo di Gré, symbolizing territorial unity. A steel roof spans the stone supports, referencing the industrial typologies that once dominated the site. Stones Venue functions as a shaded public space and as a spatial narrative, reflecting on the cultural and material legacy of quarry labor across centuries.
Stones Venue is a public shelter constructed in Brescia within Parco delle Cave, a former sand mining site now redeveloped into a green urban area. The initiative originated from the Consorzio Produttori Marmo Botticino Classico, in agreement with the Municipality of Brescia, with the intent to build a public structure in a historically symbolic landscape—paying tribute to the principal stone types defining the geological identity of the Bergamo and Brescia regions.
The project took nearly five years to complete and involved eleven companies. Each company contributed a discarded stone block from its own production, resulting in the inclusion of nine stone varieties: three from Bergamo—Arabescato Orobico, Ceppo di Gré, and Nuvolato—and six from Brescia—Breccia Aurora, Breccia Damascata, Breccia Oniciata, Fiorito Chiaro, Marmo Classico di Botticino, and Porfido.
The roof is supported by nine monolithic stone pillars made from these varieties. A tenth element, carved in Marmo di Botticino Classico with a Ceppo di Gré insertion, is a sculptural work by Francesco Paterlini, representing the unity of the two territories. The pillars are fixed to the ground with steel plates and support a steel canopy that echoes the material language and structural profile of the former industrial facilities that once occupied the site.
Stones Venue functions as both a public shelter offering shade and an architectural tribute—honoring the territory and the generations of labor that have shaped its material and cultural fabric.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Brescia, Italy
The location specified is intended for general reference and may denote a city or country, but it does not identify a precise address.
