One of our favorite designs from Milan Design Week was John Pawson’s House of Stone, which is constructed from stone blocks composed of 99% recycled granite. Working together with the leading stone craftsmen of Italy under the auspices of Gabriele Salvatori, Pawson found a way to utilize tons of cast-off stone, which cost millions of Euros to dispose of. His elegant stone house is composed of stone ‘bricks’ and features a series of fissures that create beautiful plays of light — both inside and out.
The two designers teamed up after Salvatori, whose showroom is located in Milan’s trendy Brera district, created an innovative and totally eco-compatible stone, Lithoverde. Lithoverde is made up of 99% discarded granite and only 1% of a natural resin. In their search for the ‘right’ architect who would know how to best showcase the new product, they turned to Pawson. Pawson, in turn was struck not only by its exceptional beauty, but also by the fact that each piece could be ‘designed’ to carry your signature. Unlike with brick, no two buildings using this stunning stone will have the same surface design.
Pawson firmly believes that architects today need to look back – even ancestrally – to find a design that will withstand the test of time. For his House of Stone, he was inspired by the simplicity of the earliest churches, while at the same time, utilized new materials to elicit emotions in a space which is quite spiritual. With the cross cut into the ceiling, one is invited to meditate inside his House of Stone, to think about the play of light on the surface, and even the rain that might fall in; reproducing the same pattern as above.
Salvatori & Pawson’s House of Stone was so well-received by the public during Milan’s Salone del Mobile, that Milan’s Mayor Moratti has decided to give it a permanent home at the Milan Triennale Design Museum. With this unique work, Pawson shows you can, indeed, change the world – one stone at a time.
+ Salvatori
+ John Pawson
