point supreme architects: marble mural

‘marble mural’ by point supreme architects –  side view of the piece, focusing on the geographic cut shapesall images © giannis drakoulidis

‘marble mural’ was designed by rotterdam-founded and athens-based architecture studio point supreme architects as a contemporary interpretation of the material considered in ancient greece to be the ‘unparalleled medium’ for 3-dimensional work. conceptualized by konstantinos pantazis, marianna rentzou, beth hughes, and jean-sébastien lebreton, the piece was painted by nikos sepetzoglou and sculpted by hector papadakis. it is on exhibition in athens, greece. deviating from the typical interaction with marble as sculptural medium, the studio uses the stone slab to create a partition wall. for the exterior surface, point supreme architects meshed together the techniques of two-dimensional digital art and a collage aesthetic with the classical sculptural technique of marble treatment.

wide view of ‘marble mural’ on display

view of the back side of the sculpture

the 10x2m, 30mm thick wall is comprised of 7 marble pieces of various shade, origin, texture, natural history, and image, altered via  CNC engraving, painting, digital printing, water cutting, and sculptural techniques while supported on a steel frame. each marble slab is treated by hand as well as digitally in order to enact a more complex marble work. rather than include finished, polished and cut marble, the point supreme architects left the stone ragged and thick, promoting a textured visual quality as the painting and digital imagery coat the the marble surface. holes and rivets (up to a depth of 15mm) offer 3-dimensional relief.

detailed view of the mural

detailed view of the work

detailed view of the elephant image, greek lettering and two larger cut-outs of the piece

detailed image of cut outs, historical and natural image overlay and engraving

the piece is representative of firm’s architectural approach, relying on research, architecture, urban planning, landscape and graphic design to inform the meaning of the mural. instead of the heavy and impenetrable qualities  normally associated with marble, the studio evokes a sense of depth and lightness for the viewer by highlighting the natural marble veins.

description of the piece by the architects

detailed visualization

of the piece’s sequence of technique implementation by the architects the marble supply was from perrakis marbles. CNC was provided by smponias marbles. the water cutting was completed by grammatikas marbles while print all provided digital printing supervision. the steel frame for the marble slab was constructed by opsis and the furniture for the installation was provided by workshop.