The Association of Marble Entrepreneurs of Andalusia – AEMA hosts today the inauguration of the ‘Program for the promotion of the natural stone industry and innovative surfaces, aimed at students of architecture’. A total of 20 students from the University of Granada are participating in the initiative, which has been organized by the Regional Ministry of Industrial Policy and Energy, through its General Secretariat of Industry and Mines, in collaboration with the Regional Ministry of University, Research and Innovation and AEMA.
The objective of the proposal is to transmit to future architects and potential clients of the industry, the values of the Macael Brand, its products, culture of know-how and importance and applications in architecture of natural stone and innovative compact surfaces. The program, which will last two days -Thursday, December 15 and Friday, December 16-, started with the presentation of the Macael Brand, followed by the first of the conferences given by Mr. José María Tomás Llavador, Doctor of Architecture. It will continue with a visit to quarries and several companies of the Macael Brand, where participants will acquire a global vision of this sector and will learn first-hand about its activity. Friday opens with the second of the lectures by architect José Ángel Ferrer, and continues with the completion of the program of visits.
Focusing on the creation of spaces to live, work and enjoy, Mr. José María Tomás Llavador addressed the issue of sustainability as a paradigm shift in architecture. “We ask ourselves what the city of the future is going to look like, how it is going to evolve, and we always think of it as a livable, inclusive and sustainable place. Our work is part of achieving that goal. The city is our scope of work.” In this line and as the author of numerous national and international urban projects, Tomás Llavador has won international competitions for the development of the new waterfront of La Spezia, Italy and, recently, has carried out the redevelopment of the Plaza de la Reina in Valencia.
Mr. José Ángel Ferrer, who will present the value and architectural possibilities of natural stone in sustainable projects, maintains that “the adoption of sustainable criteria has led us to use materials such as Macael marble which, due to its mechanical qualities together with its expressive values, always make it a very interesting material for use in both new construction and renovation”.
Among the projects that Ferrer will present is an Agrocampus for ÚNICA Group in Almería and a train station in Barcelona for ADIF, where they are considering the possibility of using marble in very thin large sheets, which allow a significant percentage of light to pass through. Thus, he says, “two sustainable and apparently antagonistic elements, such as light and stone, are combined to generate a new element that becomes the image of the station”.
The program is derived from the implementation of the CRECE value chain plan for the stone and marble industry in Andalusia, whose objective is to promote the differentiation of Andalusia as an industrial region in the production of stone and marble, which requires the promotion of a strong network of professionals and entities that know, value and develop solutions based on its products. The natural stone activity in Andalusia is based in the Marble Region of Macael, Almeria, as the main extraction and transformation area of natural stone and its derivatives, both nationally and internationally.
