Marble: From dust to must

The message of the project

Italy is one of the top five marble extraction sites in the world. The amount of marble waste generated during the extraction process can be as much as 80% of the total volume of stone extracted.

Since two of the three  Consortium partners are based in Italy they have chosen to work with marble which is a material widely exploited in Italy. Via WORTH the project intends to develop a new castable material obtained using an organic binder and marble dust waste, and perhaps even fly ash. This would have great potential in the interior design industry. 

Further, they will also create an MVP of Mira, an interactive luminaire incorporating this new material. Worth will help by creating this partnership between the designer, the manufacturer, and the art gallery. This collaboration ensures the project's structures and increases its chances of success. 

The idea behind the project

Marble dust is largely considered waste and causes serious risks to the environment. Just a small percentage of it is actually utilized as aggregate replacement in concrete production. Not many studios have looked into reusing marble dust and even the ones that have, do not use eco-friendly or organic binders. 

The final compound would be tested to be cast into 3D printed molds produced with Bio-based material, which, if necessary, can be recycled and reprinted. The ability to print in large format would allow us to produce large pieces, made structural by adding fibers to the compound. 

Possible applications of the composite: tiles, wall decorations, panels, luminaires etc.

The project will explore how marble can be recycled and become the raw material for beautiful, functional, and meaningful interior design pieces. It intends to create a composite, castable material made out of marble dust and an organic binder. This material could have great potential in the interior design industry because it could be cast as tiles, wall decorations , and much more. In the process, it will be using rapid prototyping methods such as 3d printing and 3d scanning but also casting, etc. 

What next?

The project will create a unique design piece incorporating the new material created. It will further develop Catrinel’s project called Mira. Mira is an interactive luminaire that reacts to human presence and is inspired by our continuous fight against entropy and impermanence. The piece offers moments of contemplation and space to pause our hectic lives, thereby fulfilling our need for beauty and awe, while also creating an emotional bond between the viewer and the luminaire.