FIND A CONTRACTOR BUYER'S GUIDE
BECOME AN INDUSTRY PARTNER
MCAA Logo
MEMBER LOGIN JOIN
NEWS
Join Us For The 75th Anniversary Midyear Meeting Sep 7-11 ↗

Architect scholarships for “Designing with Natural Stone”

Words: Dan Kamys/Public/News/20120518105000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Architects from last year's program visit a Verona-area quarry." />
Architects from last year's program visit a Verona-area quarry.
The fourteenth edition of “Designing with Natural Stone” will run from Sept. 24-30, 2012, in Verona and Milan, Italy, in conjunction with MARMOMACC, a trade show for stone and design. More than 220 architects from all over the United States have participated in previous editions of the course. Scholarship applications for this year’s course will be accepted until July 15.

Veronafiere offers this course to help architects learn advanced techniques in the use of marble, granite and other stone materials. It is an ideal way for members of the stone trade to educate architects they work with about stone design.

The program is a unique combination of classroom lectures, guided architectural tours, and field trips to local quarries, as well as to natural stone processing facilities. This comprehensive approach enables architects to better understand stone’s full life-cycle, including how marble is quarried, cut, processed, finished, selected for specific jobs and installed, all using the latest technologies and products.

The 2012 edition will include visits to a nearby Rosso Verona quarry and stone processing plant, as well as case studies on stone use in the Canadian Museum of Human Right and the first certified “passivaus” building for a railway company.

In addition, to celebrate its 75th anniversary, MAPEI will host the group in Milan for two full days. The Milan program will include visits of MAPEI’s plant in Mediglia, its R&D labs in Milan, and the City Life project, a residential and business district currently under construction in Milan. City Life was designed by architects Arata Isozaki, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Pier Paolo Maggiora and has been recognized for the redevelopment of the historic area originally occupied by Fiera Milano. MAPEI’s involvement has included specifying and supplying various construction products that have contributed to the sustainability of this project and assistance with specifications for the stone installation.

Sustainable design (SD) became a principal focus of the course in 2008. Five AIA SD credits will be offered, including case studies of sustainable projects in stone. In addition, the course provides time to explore MARMOMACC, with its more than 1,500 exhibitors of stone and stone-related products from around the world.

Participants earn more than 20 AIA/CES learning-unit hours. Most classes also count as HSW credits and five as SD credits. The class is limited to 30 architects, 16 from the United States, the others from Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, and Singapore.

Scholarships — covering tuition, hotels and meals — are awarded on a competitive basis, based on a candidate’s demonstrated interest in the field, responsibilities within their firm, and experience with stone.

Those interested should submit their curriculum vitae and a cover letter specifying why they wish to take part in the course. The deadline for submitting applications is July 15.

Please send applications to: Wafa Ghnaim, The Consultants International Group: 1616 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20006; Fax: (202) 393-4655; E-mail: info@cig-dc.com
 0
Chairman's Message: REFLECTIONS SPANNING SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS
September 2025

MCAA has been posting lots of wonderful old photos from decades of records as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Many of these photos are black and white and show people at our MCAA events with men wearing suits and ties while the women wore dressy gowns

Dick Dentinger
Chairman’s Message
Read More
Business Building: What Are You Doing To Develop Future Leaders?
September 2025

When I ask my coaching clients if they have anyone in their construction company who could potentially move up from field superintendent to estimator or project manager, the typical answer is “No!” The same answer is usually given when asked if they have

George Hedley
Business Building
Read More
Building More: Smoke Signals or Fire Extinguishers
September 2025

Ever watch a hot-potato game break out on your jobsite? It usually starts small. Somebody spots a crooked door frame, mutters, “I’ll make a note,” and flicks the issue to the next trade like it’s radioactive. By the time that frame comes back around, dryw

Corey Adams
Building More
Read More
MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Episode 27 Recap: Rob McKay, Chief Operating Officer at Instone
September 2025

On this episode of the MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Rob McKay from Instone joins the show to talk about his story as well as the processes and procedures of manufacturing natural stone. Getting Started in Masonry: Rob’s Story Rob entered the masonry field by

Justin Stengel
The MASONRY STRONG Podcast
Read More