Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Books Editorial Committee on May 19, 2017 Carrara Marble: a nomination for ‘Global Heritage Stone Resource’ from Italy P. PRIMAVORI Dimension Stone International Consultant; Teacher in the Master ‘Architecture and Construction: contemporary design with natural stone’, Department of Architecture & Urban Studies, Politecnico of Milan, Italy (e-mail:
[email protected]) Abstract: Carrara Marble, from Italy, probably one of the most famous dimension stones in the collective memory and in ordinary people, is here nominated as a suitable ‘Global Heritage Stone Resource’. Quarried since pre-Roman times, the Carrara marble is the testimonial of an area/industry that was able – for a variety of reasons not easily repeatable in future stone history – from the dawn of the stone sector, to trigger a flywheel effect on a global scale. Suitable for any environment and cultural context, this versatile marble has been appreciated in almost any field of application – from building to architecture, from fine arts to urban landscape, from funerary art to modern 3D design – probably reaching its highest point in the eternal works of famous sculpturers, artists and architects such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Jacopo Della Quercia, Canova, Bernini, and many others. It is currently excavated in more than 100 quarries, processed almost everywhere and sold all over the world. Carrara Marble takes its name from the Italian city erroneously used for a long time to define a multi- of Carrara where it has been quarried for more tude of different marbles (more than one hundred than 2000 years and is still being quarried to this commercial varieties) extracted in the whole Apuan day at a rate of about 1 500 000 tons per year.