Stone Pavilion/Marmomacc 2007

Kengo Kuma & Associates

Kengo Kuma's Pavilion for Casone at Marmomac has to be viewed in terms of the material and its possibilities. The configuration of the pavilion is based on three elements: the floating pavilion, the labyrinth, and the reflecting ceiling. The floor is made up of 900 slabs of Giallo Etrusco sandstone, hand polished and bevelled and set up in a checker pattern. Going together with the labyrinth wall the stone floor elements are made with slabs of Pietra Serena, to accentuate the “floating” effect of the wall. The reflecting ceiling produces a misleading duplication. The reflecting surface overhangs the labyrinth wall without ever touching it: one centimetre is left along the entire perimeter. This solution produces an effect of continuity with the stone walls, which are sometimes not linear, with a breaching and an amplification of their sense.