In Italian marble quarries and cutting workshops, large wooden worktops are continuously engraved by massive circular blades. Over time, repeated cuts create a dense network of grooves, while powdered and granulated marble—carried by cooling water—settles into the slits of the wood. What emerges is an unexpected, irregular pattern, reminiscent of an urban plan: squares, crossroads, blocks, and countless possible ways.
Once worn out by years of cutting, these planks are normally replaced and discarded. alcarol instead rescues this material rich in human and geological history, giving it a new life. Each board is unique: the sedimentary marble dust bonds with the wood, fusing their colours and preserving the memory of the last stone it helped to shape.
Just as water once flowed across the surface, a transparent resin now encapsulates the residues, levels the irregularities and freezes the moment, protecting both wood and mineral from degradation. A poetic gesture that also ensures a stable and durable surface.
The metal bases are inspired by the very stone-cutting blades that generated these patterns—laser-cut steel elements assembled through simple joints, echoing the direct, functional language of the quarry.
The collection transcends the ordinary perception of those workplaces: the surfaced wood invites touch, while the clear resin reveals pathways to explore—urban, organic, and deeply human. Each piece becomes a map of memory, a crystallized landscape of labour, material, and time.
