fervital / antolini stone gallery by paritzki liani architects

fervital-antolini stone gallery by paritzki liani architects
image © amit geron courtesy paritzki liani architects

the construction of the ‘stone gallery’ designed for fervital /antolini, by paola liani and itai paritzki of paritzki liani architects recuperates a mnemonic and interpretative atlas of the mineral world. the ‘fervital/antolini’ gallery is a two levels exposition space adjacent to the stone laboratory workshop and to the blocks storage area: marble, travertine, stones and granites from all over the world. the visual connection between these untouched blocks of natural material – already complete in their innate beauty – manifest a pathway signed by the presence of dark walls covered with a grey/black rough granite, incised and eroded by thin and unexpected cuts that enable water to gently run through them. the drops fall on the same material, this time roundly shaped, producing alternating sounds that reveal the more intimate nature of its formation.

image © amit geron

on ground floor, the gallery is crossed by a central route, marked by thresholds that separate four exposition spaces. the idea is that of being suspended between two contradicting material conditions: evidence and surprise. from the first room, sandwiched by two facing walls made of overlapping sivec marble straps, one horizontally and one vertically installed, with a slight inclination upwards: appears a wall composed of various shades of black granite. the black-on-black is composed of different types of finishing, wrinkled-flamed, smooth-shiny, in order to magnify the tactile quality of the materials.

image © amit geron

in the second room the metamorphosis of the stone surfaces is narrated by the use of various types of rock are demonstrated as functional blocks, kitchens made of elegant brown, aqua stone. the significance of the materials is given by the value of color, by the rigors of the structure and of the form as appears in the book-matching cut. the blocks are suspended from the polished calacatta marble pavement, while the rigorous walls, covered with the same calacatta marble, assume the aspect of a cloudy fabric.

image © amit geron

in the third room the pureness of the osso travertine is evidenced in the placing of panels of 175 cm wide in the central area; while in the lateral areas the same panels were used in two different motifs. the panels on the left part are 250 cm wide signed by subtle brass profiles between them, that proceed from the paving upwards on to the walls. symmetrically on the right wall, panels of 132×104 cm are signed by 5 cm wide strips of oxidized travertine. this motif proceeds staggering towards the stone wall. to this we’ve added in the remaining walls an improbable match, with the exuberant verde bamboo. the room is illuminated with a backlit polycarbonate ceiling, a fragment of a winter garden.

image © amit geron

in the main entrance, the staircase that leads to the first floor is covered with a panel of fusion fire granite, composed so that its veins would coincide with the direction of the walking route. once up the stairs on the first floor, a wall composed of vertical irregular knife plates of lasa stone, overlap one another, composing a diaphanous textile. the wall expose different gradients and sources of light, sharing a glimpse of its slender slices of material and filaments. the wall made of vanishing stone serves as a diaphragm between the office area and the visitor’s route. the gallery of precious stone plates is a place of imagination and fantasy. located within the space are panels of agate rhodochrosite, composed variscite, quartz, crystals, obsidian; some are translucent and thus backlit, creating vivid and unexpected tones and colors. the liquidity, the wavy movement of the veins and infinite drawings were figuratively stabilized in the space by using a simple undulated cladding colored in aqua green. the last niche of these varied minerals is the onyx room, where the presence of a back light behind this quartz designs a place of vague contours.

image © amit geron