A Public Shelter Recalling the Regional Identity of Quarrying Industry
Parco delle Cave in Brescia, Italy, is an urban park transformed from a former sand quarry site. Within this context, the stone pavilion was conceived as a public shelter that symbolizes the regional identity shaped by quarrying industries, using material to reveal the memory embedded in the site. The design is based on the idea that materials carry the passage of place. Over approximately five years, eleven stone companies donated discarded blocks from their production processes, resulting in a structure composed of nine types of stone. Sourced from nearby Bergamo and Brescia, these materials display distinct colors and textures, collectively expressing the geological character of the area.
The structure consists of nine monolithic columns made of different stones, along with an additional composite column. This added column, created by artist Francesco Paterlini, combines stones from the two cities to express a shared terrain and identity. Each column is anchored to the ground with steel plates and supports a steel roof above. The roof evokes the industrial structures once present in the quarry, functioning as a canopy while revealing the accumulated character of the site.
The pavilion is arranged as an open structure set among low vegetation on flat ground. Movement, sightlines, wind, and light pass freely between the columns. As light changes over time, it interacts with the stone surfaces to emphasize their varied textures, while the resulting shadows move across the space, adding depth.
The project was developed through collaboration between the Consortium of Botticino Classico Marble Producers and the City of Brescia. By reusing leftover stone from production, it restores the value of industrial by-products and returns the region’s mineral resources and labor history to the public realm. It layers traces of past quarrying activities into the contemporary urban environment, functioning as an architecture that connects memory, material, and community.
Project: STONES VENUE / Location: Via Cerca, 25135 Brescia BS, Italy / Architect: Associates Architecture / Project team: Nicolò Galeazzi, Martina Salvaneschi, Mariachiara Cocchiararo, Claudia Crotti, Paola Federici, Nicole Tombini / Collaborators: 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 / Structural engineer: Opera Mista, Marco Zanardelli / Art work: Francesco Paterlini / Partners: Municipality of Brescia, Municipality of Botticino / Sponsors: GB Costruzioni, Gruppo Faustini, LOUD, Transvecta SRL / Commissioner: Consorzio Produttori Marmo Botticino Classico / Use: public shelter / Design and construction: 2019-2024 / Completion: 2025 / Photograph: ©Nicolò Galeazzi (courtesy of the architect)
