General

Ganesh Kumar Murugan

A large and very special piece of art, using Greek Kaviros marble and high-grade steel, was made in 2002 in the city of Neuchâtel in French speaking western Switzerland. It was a highly demanding job not only for the artists, but also for the stonemasons involved.

Gesa Todt

More than two centuries ago in the history of lithography, natural stone was brought to the printing press. On August 4th and 5th 2002, however, for the first time it was the other way around, and, as a result, the world biggest lithography was produced.

San Juan is one of the three provinces most important producers of marble in Argentina, along with Cordoba and Buenos Aires. Of this production, can be highlighted travertine marble for its quality and for being exploited since the end of XIX century, which has noticed since then a clear preference for the use of ornamental rocks in public buildings and in the houses of the rich people, both in San Juan as well as in Mendoza and Cordoba.

Yuri Sychov

Every day around 9 million passengers on Moscow's Metro become unwitting visitors to a unique "stone show". The idea of creating a relaxing environment underground through the extensive use of decorative stone cladding and flooring was first put into practice in 1935. Today there are 162 stations and stone decor is featured at most of them. Yuri Sychov reports.

Claire Sentry

A memorial garden to all the victims of 9/11 opens in London in September 2003. It will provide a focus for the grief of 63 UK families, many of whom have no grave or headstone to visit since the bodies of their loved ones, and those of most of the 3000 killed, have never been recovered.

This is not Raw Silk from China to make exquisite fabric for the fashion designers of the world. This is the fashionable granite from India that the Chinese are fond of!

Raw Silk is among the most imported granites into China from India after Black Galaxy, Ruby Red and Tan Brown.

Raw Silk Granites is basically of two types:

Raw Silk Ivory

Raw Silk Ivory quarries are located in a village by name Varchur located approximately 26 kms. from Madurai city in the Southern State of Tamilnadu, India. Madurai city can be reached by flights from Madras (Chennai).

In most parts of the world, stone extraction is usually done in countries with moderate climates, or, where the weather can become hot, extremely hot in the summer. The word “quarry”, for most in the stone industry, is thus synonymous with heat and dust and sweat, with problems of dehydration for the worker, lack of water, etc. But, on this planet earth, stone is also extracted in extreme temperatures, the word extreme signifying not very heat but very cold.

Armand-Thierry Pedrós Esteban

arpedes@esc.upv.es

The granite water memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales, which was unveiled in London in July 2004, was produced using ground-breaking 3D technology and production techniques previously available only to the automotive industry. This technology means that for the first time, the architectural world can now create mass-produced stonework quickly, and in any combination of complex shapes and textures.