Marble is a natural material that can add a “magical” touch to any setting when it is expertly quarried and processed by skilful hands.

Thanks to its unique qualities, Margraf Lipica Fiorito frost-resistant marble with a non-slip flamed finish was selected by architect Fabio Mariani as a prestigious paving material for a new, extended pedestrian subway in Riccione, near Rimini. It links the stretch of Viale Ceccarini by the sea with the road of the same name that leads into the old part of town.

The project involves an area of approximately 1,000 m², some of which is underground. This increases to approximately 1,500 m² when renovation work on an existing section is taken into account. The subway has an overall length of approximately 90 m, from the wall at the top of the new area to the end of the existing ramp on the stretch of Viale Ceccarini by the sea.

It brings together a number of different features in a single technical, distributive and architectural ensemble, thus creating a pleasant, practical location that complements and enhances the existing surroundings (Viale Ceccarini and a park).

Design concept
Like a bridge, the subway links and unites. It combines its practical purpose with a symbolic side.

As an underground structure, it has the potential to be even more evocative than a bridge. The notion of being “underneath” has numerous connotations in religion, literature and psychology. The architect and his team took inspiration from these ideas and transformed the subway from an anonymous passage into a topos, in the Aristotelian sense of the term.

Architectural rhetoric and assonance conjure up images of the history of Riccione. The designer’s goal was to produce a concerted work that engages and represents the town as a whole, with a special part being played by cultural associations, artists and accomplished artisans.

For instance:
– Some of the walls are covered with wood, as part of a design inspired by planks on boats. Consequently, it feels like you are entering a ship rather than a subway.

– The paving is made of frost-resistant Margraf Lipica Fiorito marble featuring a non-slip flamed finish and a suitable thickness for the use in question (approximately 3 cm for the pedestrian areas). The slabs are laid in a “free-length” pattern with strips of various sizes, thus optimizing the use of materials and reducing waste.

– Other walls were made of “exposed” reinforced concrete using wooden boards of the same size as the planking seen elsewhere, thus drawing on the post-war traditions of the local master carpenters.

– The new stretch of subway has an elliptical shape and will serve as a sort of underground town square, with a statue of local benefactress Maria Boorman Ceccarini surrounded by water as its focal point.

Technical details
Architectural project: Fabio Mariani – MARIANI & ASSOCIATI ARCHITETTI.
Location: Viale Ceccarini, Riccione (near Rimini).

Quantity and type of Margraf marble used:
– Paving made of frost-resistant Lipica Fiorito grey marble, featuring small, whitish veins, fossil remains of varying degrees of visibility, a non-slip flamed finish and a suitable thickness for the use in question (approximately 3 cm for the pedestrian areas). The slabs are laid in a “free-length” pattern with strips of various sizes, thus optimizing the use of materials and reducing waste.
Amount: 1,000 m².

About Margraf
Margraf’s story (former Industria Marmi Vicentini) started in Chiampo (province of Vicenza) in 1906. Since its early start, the company devoted to accurate research work and development of new technologies, working in tight collaboration with famous international architects. Today, after more than a century, Margraf is a leading, world stakeholder in this field. Among many other pluses, Margraf owes its worldwide established reputation to its skilful extraction of marble and the ability to transform it into finished, polished slabs or tiny tiles and to provide a huge array of precious materials and excellent products for building construction and architecture (from the cladding of inner and external walls, to interior design items, to bathroom and kitchen decoration). On top of all this, Margraf ensures extensive environmental compliance investing any efforts to minimize any possible kind of environmental impact. This includes the use of cutting-edge technologies, the implementation of landscape recovery and energy saving practices, as well as the exploitation of renewable resources. Margraf is a perfect merging of past and present forming a first-class enterprise eagerly turned to the future.

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Press info
Nicolò Soranzo | GAGLIARDI & PARTNERS
www.gagliardi-partners.it