The Enchanted Forest, 14 works on display on the lithic world, between fairy tale and research
At the international event, held from 23 to 26 September and dedicated to the stone sector, the cultural section, Marmomac Meets Academies 2025, will be curated by Prof. Giuseppe Fallacara
15 September 2025
The Politecnico di Bari will be present at the 59th edition of “Marmomac”, the international event dedicated to natural stone: from raw material to advanced processing, up to artistic expression.
The event, scheduled in Verona from 23 to 26 September, will feature a cultural section, “The Plus Theatre”, within which there will be the “Marmomac Meets Academies” space, which will be curated by Prof. Giuseppe Fallacara, Full Professor of Architectural Design at the ArCoD Department of Poliba.
Meets Academies will place at the center of the discussion the theme of design and construction experimentation with stone material, with the involvement of more than 15 universities, national and international, research institutes and companies. The initiative will result, as the outcome of the entire Poliba year of work, in the exhibition “Fabula Litica: The Enchanted Forest”. Understood as a metaphor for scientific research, it will seek to lead the visitor to immerse themselves in a fantastic tale, between tradition and innovation. The relationship between fairy tale and scientific research may seem, at first glance, very distant. Both, however, respond to the human need to know, understand and give meaning to reality. Fairy tales spark curiosity and imagination, which are also the foundations of scientific discovery.
More than twenty professors and researchers from Italian and foreign universities will share their design experience in the stone sector. The Poliba research group, led by Fallacara, will present 14 lithic works, created with the contribution of companies from the area. The heart of the installation will be a striking stone sculpture, inspired by Giuseppe Sanmartino’s famous Veiled Christ, depicting a female figure that will evoke the story of Sleeping Beauty in the forest. The Veiled Maiden will be placed beneath a majestic tree-like structure. Three of these trees, imposing and mutually intertwined, will symbolize a perpetual dialogue between natural forms and materials and emerging construction techniques. Made in steel clad with thin pietra radica stone, quarried in the city of Alberobello, the tree-like structure will aim to connect the principles of innovation and a bond with tradition. In front of the lithic forest there will be a “flying carpet”, embellished with luminous onyx decorations and many fantastic objects resulting from research and construction experimentation. The Poliba proposal aims to be a sculpted fairy tale, where every detail invites the visitor to reflect on the narrative potential of stone, capable of passing down millennia-old stories and inspiring future scenarios.
At Marmomac Meets Academies 2025, besides the lithic prototypes, young creatives will take center stage, coming from the Schools of Architecture, Industrial Design, Academy of Fine Arts and Engineering of various Italian and foreign universities, with their projects for the world of architecture and design.
The Poliba designers team at Marmomac Meets Academies 2025Giuseppe Fallacara, Sara D’Adamo, Maria Giovanna Pansini, Dario Costantino, Francesco Ciriello, Clara Rosa Romano, Marco Massafra, Adriana Valentini, Clelia Santovito.
The affiliated companies: Màrlux Marmi, Bianco Cave, FabLab Poliba, Vertico, Stilmarmo, B&Y, Mastropasqua Marmo, StilMarmo S.r.l., Tarricone Prefabbricati di Tarricone, Francesco, Gioia Marmi, Marlè, Germinario Marmi, Otnas Studio, Pimar Italian Limestone, Archi-Med.
The figures of Marmomac 2025: 59th edition; 1,400 exhibitors; 54 countries; 13 halls; 8 exhibition areas.
The article The Enchanted Forest, 14 works on display on the lithic world, between fairy tale and research comes from Poliba Chronicle.
