The forms of marble. International phase.

During the October 24, 2025 day at LABA Valencia, the AFAM Grand Tour project experienced a decisive milestone on the scientific, educational and relational levels.

The morning was devoted to a scientific conference that took up and relaunched the themes addressed in the previous Brescia meeting (March 13, 2025), delving in particular into the role of marble in interior and project design. The speeches by Taco Langius, Lorena De Agostini and Emma Chiari allowed for further development of the reflection on sustainability, the circularity of the material-from the quarrying cycle to design-and the practices of creative reuse of marble. Student projects, presented by both the Interior & Green Design area and the Industrial & Research Design area, demonstrated a real process of research and design refinement.

A second key axis of the day was the development of relations with the international context. The participation of local professionals and institutions-such as Mateo Climent Gil (CDICV – Colegio de Diseñadores de Interior de la Comunidad Valenciana) and Carmen Baselga (Estudio Baselga)-opened a concrete confrontation between the value of Made in Italy in marble design and the design and cultural practices of the Spanish territory. This dialogue transformed the event into a true platform for international debate, fostering the dissemination of the project results and laying the groundwork for future collaborations in the field of interior design and creative industries.

At the same time, the Valencia stop contributed to strengthening the relationships among the AFAM institutions involved: the presence of LABA Brescia, LABA Florence, RUFA, IUAD and Accademia del Lusso, together with LABA Valencia’s role as hosting partner, consolidated the relationships among a network of Academies that share a common vision on applied research in design and art education. The photographic exhibition “Ninfa di Pietra,” with the specific contribution of LABA Florence’s photographic work, and the participation of the other institutions made the choral and inter-institutional nature of the project visible, including on the exhibition level.

Finally, great attention was paid to artistic research through cinema. The screening of the film “Materia Viva,” made by the students of LABA Brescia’s Two-Year Specialization in Cinema and Audiovisual, showed how marble can become not only a design object, but also a narrative and poetic device. The documentary, with an experimental slant, weaves together different generations of sculptors and focuses on craftsmanship, the transmission of memory and the deep relationship with a noble material like marble, confirming the role of the GTA project as a meeting place between design, theoretical research and artistic practice.