. The fair welcomed some 33,509 professionals

. 40% of the exhibiting companies and 14.85% of the visitors recorded at PIEDRA´08 travelled to the fair from abroad.

 

The seventh edition of PIEDRA, the International Natural Stone Fair, took place between 7th and 10th May, bringing together the products and services of some 768 direct exhibitors and represented companies in Halls 3, 5, 7 and 9 at FERIA DE MADRID. The fair welcomed some 33,509 professionals. This event, which is organised by IFEMA and promoted by the Spanish Natural Stone Federation (FDP), confirmed its growing international dimension, based on the attendance of a large number of exhibitors and visitors from abroad.

 

With regard to its exhibition, the fair brought together all the leading manufacturers, exporters, importers and distributors for natural stone and machinery in Spain, as well as wide-ranging official representation from various Spanish regions such as Aragon, Castile-Leon, Extremadura and Galicia, and the participation of companies from Germany, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Korea, China, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Turkey. PIEDRA ´08 presented very strong representation on the part of the Spanish industry, as well as a strong international dimension, with some 40% of the fair´s direct exhibitors coming from abroad, specifically from 18 different countries on four continents.

 

The visitors at PIEDRA consisted of the accredited professionals recorded by the fair itself, coming to 17,700 in total at this edition, combined with the visitors who were accredited for VETECO, the International Window, Curtain Wall and Structural Glass Trade Show, which coincided with the staging of PIEDRA. The visitors to VETECO also attended the PIEDRA exhibition. The foreign professionals accredited at PIEDRA, who accounted for 14.85% of the total visitor figure, travelled to the fair from 77 countries throughout the world.

 

PIEDRA ´08 also welcomed various return trade missions, consisting of more than 50 buyers from the United States, India, Morocco, Mexico and the United Kingdom, all of whom attended the fair´s exhibition.

 

Coinciding Activities: Another Attraction at the Fair

PIEDRA´08 provided the framework for the staging of various coinciding activities of considerable interest to professionals. Among these, we might mention the Second International Congress on Stone in Architecture, which featured magisterial addresses by the architects, Rafael Moneo and David Chipperfield. The closing address at the Congress was delivered by the Vice-President of the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX), Ángel Martn Acebes and brought together a number of important figures from the world of Spanish and international architecture, along with professionals linked to the natural stone industry.

 

At the end of the Congress, the Eleventh PIEDRA ´08 Architecture Awards were presented, based on a total of 30 projects that were entered for this competition from around the world. On this occasion, the winning project was the Theatre Auditorium at San Lorenzo del Escorial, which was carried out by Mara Jos de Blas and Rubn Picado, from the studio, Picado de Blas. The Jury, chaired by Antonio Lamela, highlighted the considerable quality of the stone that was employed in this project and the coherent and traditional appeal of this material, as well as the use of different techniques and varieties of granite.

 

Three Honourable Mentions were also awarded to the following participants: Felipe Obtengo Rufino and Jos Mara Rodrguez Pastrana, from AMP Arquitectos, for the Island Athletics Centre of Tenerife; to Jos Mara Garca Ramrez, Francisco Salvador Granado and Juan Alberto Morillas Martn, from GYS Arquitectos, for the Museum of the City of Almera; and to Guillermo Vzquez Consuegra for the Visitors Centre at the Archaeological Site of Baelo Claudio.

 

Another of the attractions at PIEDRA ´08 was the monographic exhibition entitled ´The Natur al Seduction of Stone: Contemporary Architecture in Spain´, organised by the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX). This exhibition, which was presented for the first time in Madrid, brought together the projects carried out using stone by fifteen architecture studios of international renown, including projects implemented by Jos Rafael Moneo; RCR Arquitectes; Madrileños & Osinaga Arquitectos; Csar Portela; AMP Arquitectos C Artengo, Menis & Pastrana; Campo Baeza; Carlos Ferrater; Francisco Mangado y Asociados; Vicens & Ramos; Paredes Pedrosa; Palerm & Tabares de Nava; Navarro Baldeweg Asociados; Picado & Blas; Ensamble Studio C Antn Garca C Abril, and Miralles Tagliabue C EMBT Arquitectos.

 

The Exhibition on Stone Design, Stone-Laying and Stone-Cutting, a new feature at PIEDRA ´08, was also warmly received. Thus on 8th and 9th May, this event presented a series of live demonstrations regarding the current techniques employed when working with natural stone, as well as the various applications of this material.