Early Renaissance sculptor Donatello was influenced by his work as a metalworker. His saints and angels were sculpted in marble via a technique called “rilievo schiacciato” (squashed relief) and was fortified by his almost supernatural, meticulous dedication.
Visions, enhanced with shadows and emotion, came to life on marble through sketching the stone and chiseling and carving entirely by hand.
Nowadays, machinery like edge polishers make calibration, grinding, shaping and beveling possible with great ease and high-pressure waterjet cutting and polishing systems used for complex contours and sensitive materials. From the trade fair grounds of Marmomac in Verona to Venice-based craft biennial Homo Faber, marble furniture, decor and lighting are taking on new poetic forms that defy gravity. WWD explores new launches that echo an emerging dialogue between material, technology, light and design.
Kreoo’s Litia Lamp by Enzo Berti and Christophe Pillet
Kreoo was established in 2010 by Decormarmi, a historic Italian marble manufacturing company based in Chiampo, Italy. Named for the Greek term kreion, which means “one who makes, who creates,” the firm makes sophisticated marble furnishings and lighting envisaged for luxury residences. New lighting includes the Litia lamp designed by acclaimed Venetian designer Enzo Berti — a transparent Murano glass orb placed upon a pond of polished stone. It’s an absolutely original concept for what can only be described as a sculpture lamp, a presence that fascinates and surprises, day and night, lit or unlit.
Price available upon request at Mohd.
Helios’ The Black Box by Studio Marco Piva
On the occasion of Marmomac 2026, the leading global trade fair and annual event for the natural stone industry, Helios Automazioni presented The Black Box, an exhibition concept designed by Studio Marco Piva.
With a sense of movement and levity, Piva’s vision came alive in the form of flower petals and bits of confetti with the help of Helios’ cutting-edge machinery.
The exhibit, which included the Stone Flower Table and a light installation within an Infinity Room, was aimed at demonstrating how stone is in constant transformation, rather than a static, immutable material.
“The Black Box stems from the desire to stage the transformation of stone: an apparently immutable material that, thanks to technology, can become surprisingly versatile, elegant and light. The Infinity Room represents the culmination of this journey: here, material dematerializes through light and reflection, until it loses its boundaries,” Piva says.
Lithos’s ‘Swan Lake’ Homage
Marble specialist Lithos created the atmosphere of a refined Venetian apartment with domestic interiors at the Ca’ Riflesso exhibit by design platform Artemest during Homo Faber, a major international biennial event celebrating contemporary master craftsmanship. Among the furnishings featured in the apartment are the Odette coffee table and the Odette accent table along with marble tables supplied by Lithos Design for the bedroom. Characterized by purity and grace, the firm says it’s an homage to Swan Lake.
Available at Artemest, with a side table priced at 11,590 euros.
Neutra’s Erosion Collection With Zaha Hadid Architects
Conceived as a family of organic forms, the Neutra’s Erosion collection reflects the passage of time and the slow, relentless process of erosion.
The collection first debuted in 2024 with the Minera table and the Branch console, both carved from solid marble into flowing, sculptural forms. The Delta table, for example, organic in both form and spirit, appears as if shaped by the elemental forces of nature. Its sculptural geometry seems born of chance, gently carved and polished over time by the slow, relentless action of wind and erosion. That collection has since expanded, opening new possibilities for fluidity, layering and spatial perception.
Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher likens the collection’s élan with that achieved by the masterpieces of Michelangelo and the Renaissance, but reimagined for the 21st century.
“The idea behind the Erosion Collection is that working with marble is fundamentally an act of subtraction. You carve it, removing material to reveal the beautiful forms shaped by erosion — the kind created when water wears away stone over time, producing extraordinary natural geometries,” he muses.
Find out more on Neutra’s website.