• Covid-19
  • Agrofood
  • Business & Economy
  • Construction
  • Energy
  • Healthcare
  • Hospitality
  • IFP Events
  • IFP Insider
    • Event News
    • Interviews
  • العربية
IFP Info - News
  • Covid-19
  • Agrofood
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Environment
    • Food
    Ministry signs agreement to support Oman’s honey industry

    Ministry signs agreement to support Oman’s honey industry

    Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

    Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

    Egypt’s agriculture minister stresses importance of boosting intra-regional trade cooperation among African states

    Egypt’s agriculture minister stresses importance of boosting intra-regional trade cooperation among African states

    Azerbaijan, Iraq discuss prospects of relations

    Azerbaijan, Iraq discuss prospects of relations

    Oman inks pack to bolster role of SMEs in food systems

    Oman inks pack to bolster role of SMEs in food systems

    MAFWR, Port of Duqm sign MoU

    MAFWR, Port of Duqm sign MoU

    Trending Tags

    • Business & Economy
      • All
      • Business
      • Communication
      • Digital
      • Economy
      • Finance
      • Trade
      • Transport & Logistics
      Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

      Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

      Turkey eyes $5bn bilateral trade with Qatar

      Turkey eyes $5bn bilateral trade with Qatar

      Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

      Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

      Deal signed to set-up first factory in Qatar to assemble electric vehicles

      Deal signed to set-up first factory in Qatar to assemble electric vehicles

      Railway line to be built between Mosul, Turkey: governor of Nineveh

      Railway line to be built between Mosul, Turkey: governor of Nineveh

      Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

      Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

      Trending Tags

      • CES 2017
      • Election Results
      • eSports
    • Construction
      • All
      • Infrastructure
      • Real Estate
      Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

      Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

      Foundation stone laid for new 700-bed hospital is Salalah, Oman

      Foundation stone laid for new 700-bed hospital is Salalah, Oman

      Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

      Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

      Egypt implements 164 service and development projects at LE4.8 billion in North Sinai

      Egypt implements 164 service and development projects at LE4.8 billion in North Sinai

      Miral’s premier Abu Dhabi waterfront project work on track

      Miral’s premier Abu Dhabi waterfront project work on track

      Aecom wins Neom utilities infrastructure design contract

      Aecom wins Neom utilities infrastructure design contract

      Trending Tags

      • Energy
        • All
        • Oil & Gas
        • Power & Electricity
        • Renewable Energy
        Investments in renewables in Egypt reach LE6 bn: Official

        Investments in renewables in Egypt reach LE6 bn: Official

        Egypt signs 8 gas exploration contracts worth $934mn over 15 months

        Egypt signs 8 gas exploration contracts worth $934mn over 15 months

        JGC lands $3.7bn Iraq refinery upgradation project deal

        JGC lands $3.7bn Iraq refinery upgradation project deal

        Tadweer opens phase 2 of solar power plant at Al Dhafra

        Tadweer opens phase 2 of solar power plant at Al Dhafra

        France to help Iraq generate electricity, will invest in education, science: Macron

        France to help Iraq generate electricity, will invest in education, science: Macron

        Acwa Power inks finance deals for 900MW Dubai solar park

        Acwa Power inks finance deals for 900MW Dubai solar park

        Trending Tags

        • Healthcare
          Coronavirus: UAE conducting human trials for Covid-19 vaccine

          Coronavirus: UAE conducting human trials for Covid-19 vaccine

          COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

          GSK to develop plant-based COVID-19 vaccine with Canada’s Medicago

          Egyptian COVID-19 drug to be on market in two weeks: Health Ministry

          Egyptian COVID-19 drug to be on market in two weeks: Health Ministry

          UAE sends medical aid to Iraq to fight COVID-19

          UAE sends medical aid to Iraq to fight COVID-19

          UAE launches phase III trial of inactivated Covid vaccine

          UAE launches phase III trial of inactivated Covid vaccine

          COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

          COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

        • Hospitality
          Qatar has ‘solid’ line-up of infrastructure, hospitality projects to prepare for large influx of visitors in 2022: OBG

          Qatar has ‘solid’ line-up of infrastructure, hospitality projects to prepare for large influx of visitors in 2022: OBG

          Saudi to be among world’s big leisure tourism hubs by 2030

          Saudi to be among world’s big leisure tourism hubs by 2030

          Qatar’s hospitality sector peaks despite turbulent 2020

          Qatar’s hospitality sector peaks despite turbulent 2020

          Accor inks deal to manage first Swissôtel-branded hotel and residential project in Qatar

          Accor inks deal to manage first Swissôtel-branded hotel and residential project in Qatar

          Staycations to stimulate Qatar’s hospitality sector

          Staycations to stimulate Qatar’s hospitality sector

          Quarantine rule to give a boost to Qatar’s hospitality industry in Q3: CWQ report

          Quarantine rule to give a boost to Qatar’s hospitality industry in Q3: CWQ report

        • IFP Events
          Interior & Design

          Interior & Design

          Food Africa

          Food Africa

          Project Qatar

          Project Qatar

          Project Lebanon

          Project Lebanon

        • IFP Insider
          • Event News
          • Interviews
        • العربية
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Covid-19
        • Agrofood
          • All
          • Agriculture
          • Environment
          • Food
          Ministry signs agreement to support Oman’s honey industry

          Ministry signs agreement to support Oman’s honey industry

          Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

          Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

          Egypt’s agriculture minister stresses importance of boosting intra-regional trade cooperation among African states

          Egypt’s agriculture minister stresses importance of boosting intra-regional trade cooperation among African states

          Azerbaijan, Iraq discuss prospects of relations

          Azerbaijan, Iraq discuss prospects of relations

          Oman inks pack to bolster role of SMEs in food systems

          Oman inks pack to bolster role of SMEs in food systems

          MAFWR, Port of Duqm sign MoU

          MAFWR, Port of Duqm sign MoU

          Trending Tags

          • Business & Economy
            • All
            • Business
            • Communication
            • Digital
            • Economy
            • Finance
            • Trade
            • Transport & Logistics
            Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

            Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

            Turkey eyes $5bn bilateral trade with Qatar

            Turkey eyes $5bn bilateral trade with Qatar

            Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

            Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

            Deal signed to set-up first factory in Qatar to assemble electric vehicles

            Deal signed to set-up first factory in Qatar to assemble electric vehicles

            Railway line to be built between Mosul, Turkey: governor of Nineveh

            Railway line to be built between Mosul, Turkey: governor of Nineveh

            Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

            Local, Italian companies partner up to establish food retail chain in Egypt

            Trending Tags

            • CES 2017
            • Election Results
            • eSports
          • Construction
            • All
            • Infrastructure
            • Real Estate
            Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

            Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

            Foundation stone laid for new 700-bed hospital is Salalah, Oman

            Foundation stone laid for new 700-bed hospital is Salalah, Oman

            Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

            Iraq set to award new Faw Port deals

            Egypt implements 164 service and development projects at LE4.8 billion in North Sinai

            Egypt implements 164 service and development projects at LE4.8 billion in North Sinai

            Miral’s premier Abu Dhabi waterfront project work on track

            Miral’s premier Abu Dhabi waterfront project work on track

            Aecom wins Neom utilities infrastructure design contract

            Aecom wins Neom utilities infrastructure design contract

            Trending Tags

            • Energy
              • All
              • Oil & Gas
              • Power & Electricity
              • Renewable Energy
              Investments in renewables in Egypt reach LE6 bn: Official

              Investments in renewables in Egypt reach LE6 bn: Official

              Egypt signs 8 gas exploration contracts worth $934mn over 15 months

              Egypt signs 8 gas exploration contracts worth $934mn over 15 months

              JGC lands $3.7bn Iraq refinery upgradation project deal

              JGC lands $3.7bn Iraq refinery upgradation project deal

              Tadweer opens phase 2 of solar power plant at Al Dhafra

              Tadweer opens phase 2 of solar power plant at Al Dhafra

              France to help Iraq generate electricity, will invest in education, science: Macron

              France to help Iraq generate electricity, will invest in education, science: Macron

              Acwa Power inks finance deals for 900MW Dubai solar park

              Acwa Power inks finance deals for 900MW Dubai solar park

              Trending Tags

              • Healthcare
                Coronavirus: UAE conducting human trials for Covid-19 vaccine

                Coronavirus: UAE conducting human trials for Covid-19 vaccine

                COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

                GSK to develop plant-based COVID-19 vaccine with Canada’s Medicago

                Egyptian COVID-19 drug to be on market in two weeks: Health Ministry

                Egyptian COVID-19 drug to be on market in two weeks: Health Ministry

                UAE sends medical aid to Iraq to fight COVID-19

                UAE sends medical aid to Iraq to fight COVID-19

                UAE launches phase III trial of inactivated Covid vaccine

                UAE launches phase III trial of inactivated Covid vaccine

                COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

                COVID-19 vaccine could be available by autumn: Oxford University

              • Hospitality
                Qatar has ‘solid’ line-up of infrastructure, hospitality projects to prepare for large influx of visitors in 2022: OBG

                Qatar has ‘solid’ line-up of infrastructure, hospitality projects to prepare for large influx of visitors in 2022: OBG

                Saudi to be among world’s big leisure tourism hubs by 2030

                Saudi to be among world’s big leisure tourism hubs by 2030

                Qatar’s hospitality sector peaks despite turbulent 2020

                Qatar’s hospitality sector peaks despite turbulent 2020

                Accor inks deal to manage first Swissôtel-branded hotel and residential project in Qatar

                Accor inks deal to manage first Swissôtel-branded hotel and residential project in Qatar

                Staycations to stimulate Qatar’s hospitality sector

                Staycations to stimulate Qatar’s hospitality sector

                Quarantine rule to give a boost to Qatar’s hospitality industry in Q3: CWQ report

                Quarantine rule to give a boost to Qatar’s hospitality industry in Q3: CWQ report

              • IFP Events
                Interior & Design

                Interior & Design

                Food Africa

                Food Africa

                Project Qatar

                Project Qatar

                Project Lebanon

                Project Lebanon

              • IFP Insider
                • Event News
                • Interviews
              • العربية
              No Result
              View All Result
              IFP Info - News
              No Result
              View All Result

              The Majestic Marble Quarries of Northern Italy

              The New York Times

              July 27, 2017
              in Uncategorized
              0

              The story of Italian marble is the story of difficult motion: violent, geological, haunted by failure and ruin and lost fortunes, marred by severed fingers, crushed dreams, crushed men. Rarely has a material so inclined to stay put been wrenched so insistently out of place and carried so far from its source; every centimeter of its movement has had to be earned. “There is no avoiding the tyranny of weight,” the art historian William E. Wallace once put it. He was discussing the challenge, in Renaissance Italy, of installing Michelangelo’s roughly 17,000-pound statue of the biblical David. This was the final stage of an epic saga that, from mountain to piazza, actually began before Michelangelo’s birth and involved primitive and custom-engineered machinery and, above all, great sweating armies of groaning, straining men. But the tyranny of weight was in effect long before that, and long after, and it remains in effect today.

              What we admire as pristine white stone was born hundreds of millions of years ago in overwhelming darkness. Countless generations of tiny creatures lived, died and drifted slowly to the bottom of a primordial sea, where their bodies were slowly compressed by gravity, layer upon layer upon layer, tighter and tighter, until eventually they all congealed and petrified into the interlocking white crystals we know as marble. ‘‘Marmo,’’ the Italians call it — an oddly soft, round word for such a hard and heavy material. Some eons later, tectonic jostling raised a great spine of mountains in southern Europe. Up went the ancient sea floor, and the crystallized creatures went with it. In some places they rise more than 6,000 feet.

              In Italy’s most marble-rich area, known as the Apuan Alps, the abundance is surreal. Sit on a beach in one of the nearby towns (Forte dei Marmi, Viareggio), and you appear to be looking up at snow-covered peaks. But it is snow that does not melt, that is not seasonal. Michelangelo sculpted most of his statues from this stone, and he was so obsessed with the region that he used to fantasize about carving an entire white mountain right where it stood. He later dismissed this, however, as temporary madness. ‘‘If I could have been sure of living four times longer than I have lived,’’ he wrote, ‘‘I would have taken it on.’’ Humans face limits that marble does not.

              Besides, carving Italian marble at its place of origin is precisely not the point. Its major value has always derived from its removal. Hundreds of quarries have operated in the Apuan Alps since the days of ancient Rome. (The Romans harvested the stone with such manic intensity that it became the architectural signature of the empire’s power; Augustus liked to boast that he inherited a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.) These quarries are far off of Italy’s most-traveled tourist routes, so few visitors see them; most of us know Italian marble mainly as an endpoint in the chain of consumption — not only Renaissance statues in major museums but also tombstones, bookends and kitchen countertops in American McMansions. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding reportedly featured, as an extra touch of conspicuous luxury, furniture made of Italian marble.

              The quarries themselves, as these photos by Luca Locatelli attest, are their own isolated world: beautiful, bizarre and severe. It is a self-contained universe of white, simultaneously industrial and natural, where men with finger-nubs stand on scenic cliffs conducting tractors like symphony orchestras. Over the centuries, the strange geology of the marble mountains has produced an equally strange human community — strange even by the standards of Italy’s fractious regional subcultures. The people there live in white towns, breathing white dust, speaking their own dialects, nursing their own politics. There is a proud history, in and around Carrara, of anarchism and revolt.

              Although the tools of extraction have changed over the centuries — oxen and chisels have given way to tractors and diamond-toothed saws — the fact remains: Large pieces of white stone, cut and hauled to distant places, function as a sign of wealth and power. Like gold, marble is a special form of embedded wealth, visually striking and deeply impractical. Follow Italy’s marble, and you follow the major movements of global wealth in human history, from ancient Rome to Victorian London to 20th-century New York.

              Today Italy’s marble tends to move farther than it did before — not just 200 miles to Rome or 700 miles to London but 3,000 miles to Abu Dhabi and 4,000 miles to Mumbai and 5,000 miles to Beijing. The centers of wealth have shifted, as they always will, and the marble follows, as it always has. The last decade has coincided with feverish marble-based construction, in particular, around Mecca in Saudi Arabia. In 2014, the Saudi Binladin Group, one of the region’s major construction firms, bought a large stake in one of Carrara’s largest quarries. The famous white stone is now used not in small batches for art but in bulk for huge building projects: mosques, palaces, malls, hotels.

              How long can it hold out? Like North American timber or Antarctic ice, Italy’s marble is not an infinite resource. We will, eventually, reach the end of our ancient fund of calcified creatures, and the process that transformed them into stone is not likely to recur on any time scale we can imagine. These are cycles that outlast species. And although the white stone itself will almost certainly outlive its current quarriers, as it outlived the ancient Romans and Michelangelo, most of it will no longer be in the Apuan Alps: It will be scattered in this worldwide diaspora — in sinks, tiles, altars, skyscraper lobbies, busts.
              The New York Times
              27 July

              Previous Post

              Qatar and Oman key drivers of construction growth in the MENA region

              Next Post

              $12 billion in Foreign Finance on the way to Iran

              Next Post

              $12 billion in Foreign Finance on the way to Iran

              News Letter

              Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

              *we hate spam as much as you do

              Recent News

              Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

              Madayn working on major Oman industrial city projects

              September 28, 2020
              Qatar 2022 to offer cruise ships for fan accommodation

              Qatar 2022 to offer cruise ships for fan accommodation

              September 28, 2020
              Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

              Egypt’s Trade minister, Hungarian ambassador discuss economic relations

              September 28, 2020
              IFP Info – News

              The latest Middle East Business News & Events brought to you on a daily basis from multiple credible news portals around the world

              Follow Us

              Categories

              • Agrofood
              • Business & Economy
              • Construction
              • Covid-19 Updates
              • Energy
              • Event News
              • Healthcare
              • Hospitality
              • Interviews

              Countries

              • Bahrain
              • Egypt
              • Iran
              • Iraq
              • Jordan
              • Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
              • Kuwait
              • Lebanon
              • Oman
              • Other Africa
              • Other GCC
              • Other Middle East
              • Qatar
              • Syria
              • United Arab Emirates
              • Worldwide

              Newsletter

              Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

              *we hate spam as much as you do

              • About
              • Advertise
              • Privacy & Policy
              • Contact

              © 2018 IFP Group - All Rights Reserved / www.ifpexpo.com

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Covid-19
              • Agrofood
              • Business & Economy
              • Construction
              • Energy
              • Healthcare
              • Hospitality
              • IFP Events
              • IFP Insider
                • Event News
                • Interviews
              • العربية

              © 2018 IFP Group - All Rights Reserved / www.ifpexpo.com