The “Vicenza stone” (Pietra di Vicenza) is extracted from quarries located in the Berici hills (in Vicenza province). This stone has organic and sedimentary origin, including inside itself inserts as fossils, shells, patches of oxides and clumps of micro-organisms which enhance the sense of solidity and making unique and different each block extracted from the quarries.
Like all sedimentary rocks, this stone is soft and easy to be carved soon after its extraction, then a natural process of crystallization makes the stone more durable.
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It is commonly known under the name of "soft stone" of Vicenza including also the other two types of materials extracted in the Berici hills, which are the Giallo Dorato stone (Yellow Gold) and the Grigio Alpi stone (Grey Alps). They are also known under the main type of rock of the region known as “Vicenza stone”.
Stone working in Veneto region has ancient origins, its long history can be traced back until Roman times, this tradition is evidenced by the splendid villas admirable in Veneto from eighteenth-century mansions located in the Venetian countryside, villas located in the Riviera del Brenta, or the renowned architecture of the famous Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in Vicenza with the famous Teatro Olimpico (1585), the paradigmatic Palladian Basilica or the Villa Almerico Capra (1566) know also as the Rotonda (the round villa) until the statues adorning the European largest square: Prato della Valle in Padua.
The appearance and texture of this stone and its warm look, give nowadays to this material a wide use, in architecture and in houses and gardens ornamentation.
Officine Creative's sculptures draw on past for the processing technique which is mainly done by hand, all the objects have to be considered unique and with a strong craft footprint.
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