A Wow effect: LDDM meeting at the Antolini^® MilanoDuomo Stoneroom^®

For ‘Le Donne del Marmo’, the Milan meeting marked an important occasion to reconnect and continue a journey that once again places natural stone at its core. The initiative forms part of a broader programme of exploration and knowledge-sharing, strongly promoted by the Association’s current President, Antonella Di Biase. The members, actively engaged in the stone industry, responded with enthusiasm to this second meeting, following the first remarkable experience in Naples, which had culminated in a visit to the magnificent Royal Palace of Caserta. The group convened in a unique location in the heart of Milan, between Piazza Fontana and Via San Clemente, a historic crossroads just a few steps from the Duomo.

Here, participants were warmly welcomed by Alessandra Antolini into the brand’s extraordinary and exclusive Stoneroom®: a space where natural stone takes centre stage, expressed in all its forms and applications. Alessandra Antolini’s welcome, both gracious and impeccably professional, clearly conveyed a desire to share passion, dedication and a refined sensitivity to the multifaceted beauty of stone. The experience unfolded as an engaging journey, enriched by a strong emotional dimension and a succession of striking “wow” moments. Within the Stoneroom®, surrounded by marbles, crystals, quartzites and the extraordinary Precioustone collection, participants were immersed in a highly evocative environment where the interplay of creativity and light generated atmospheres suspended between dream and reality.

Guided by Alessandra Antolini’s presentations and by settings curated by highly experienced professionals, the members fully grasped the ability of natural stone to engage in dialogue with diverse fields: from design to art, from technology to architecture, establishing itself as a material of choice for projects driven by elegance and excellence.

ANTOLINI® MILANODUOMO: THE BRAND’S FIRST FLAGSHIP STONEROOM®

The Antolini® MilanoDuomo Stoneroom® was conceived from the Antolini family’s desire to convey the uniqueness and exclusivity of natural materials through an emotional journey that moves from raw matter to design. Visual and tactile experiences guide visitors through an immersive path, where aesthetics and knowledge seamlessly converge. The Antolini® MilanoDuomo Stoneroom® showcases a curated selection of the brand’s most prestigious collections (Exclusive Collection, Natural Stone Collection, Textures+, Natura Collection, Precioustone, Gemstone and Shellstone) offering designers, architects and interior professionals a creative hub that inspires imagination and contemporary design thinking.

Antolini® collections stand out for their research-driven and innovative character, born from a dialogue between nature and technology. The latter enhances the expressive potential of stone, combining unexpected graphic languages with contemporary patterns and tactile perceptions, in a cross-disciplinary interplay that spans design, architecture, art and fashion. The distinctive value of Antolini®, and what places the brand at the forefront of contemporary retail concepts in the natural stone sector, lies in an exceptionally comprehensive and exclusive selection of materials. With a portfolio of 1,300 remarkable stones sourced from the world’s finest quarries, Antolini® MilanoDuomo presents clients and professionals with over 5,000 samples in a unique and immersive format.

This offering reflects the company’s mission to meet a broad spectrum of needs, from availability and innovation to creativity, design potential, uniqueness and aesthetic sensibility. Antolini® MilanoDuomo stands as a meeting point for those who recognise and seek excellence in Made in Italy, refined design and the expertise of a company that, grounded in tradition, embraces innovation and forward-thinking vision. The Milan flagship showcases multiple settings across key interior sectors - residential, office and hospitality - each preserving a distinctly high-end character. The space thus functions not only as a showroom but also as a creative laboratory, designed to inspire luxury interior concepts while offering clients personalised guidance and comprehensive consultancy.

Within the store, visitors can also explore full-scale views of slabs cut directly from natural stone blocks. These materials are presented alongside design solutions tailored to the needs of clients, interior designers and architects. The Antolini® MilanoDuomo Stoneroom® project was designed by Alessandro La Spada, a designer and artist renowned for his ability to merge vision with craftsmanship. Antolini® and Alessandro La Spada, united by that distinctive trait d’union between aspiration and material realisation that defines the brand, have created a space of timeless elegance that is, at the same time, highly functional. Here, the magnificence of the display is interwoven, through meticulously designed formats and supports, with in-depth exploration and material selection, much like in a haute couture fabric atelier, where touching the textiles is essential and where clients can take home samples to inform a more conscious choice.

Through an immediate visual and tactile language, at once emotional and experiential, Antolini® and Alessandro La Spada skilfully communicate the brand’s identity and values: tradition, innovation, and a constant pursuit of quality and beauty. In doing so, they reaffirm the role of the Verona-based company as a leading ambassador in the field of natural stone surfaces. The dialogue between art and material later took shape in a collaboration with Florentine artist Murran Billi, who in 2025 dedicated a series of works to the female figures of the Medici family. Following the portraits exhibited in the Antolini® Stoneroom® during Milano Design Week, the project culminated at the Marmomac 2025 with a tribute to Catherine de’ Medici, realised on Cristallo Luminescence “Select”.

This environmental artwork transforms stone into a medium of memory and a vehicle for a universal language that brings together history, art and contemporary expression. The architectural elements, layout, exhibition design and retail concept of the Stoneroom® encapsulate what has established Antolini® as an Italian benchmark, admired worldwide for its use of innovative and sustainable industrial processes, its ongoing research and development of cutting-edge, often patented, technologies, and its artisanal mastery in the selection and refined processing of natural stone.

A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT, ANTONELLA DI BIASE

The President of the Association ‘Le Donne del Marmo’, Antonella Di Biase, commented on the gathering, expressing her full satisfaction: “The meeting at the Antolini® MilanoDuomo Stoneroom®, made possible by the warm welcome and hospitality of our member Alessandra Antolini, allowed us to discover natural stones capable of engaging in dialogue with a wide range of materials and professional disciplines, confirming their central role in innovation and design. The Antolini® Stoneroom® stands as a true tribute to nature, to human ingenuity, and to a living, vibrant and malleable material, one that embodies both enduring strength and timeless appeal”.

“We also wished to reciprocate this experience by presenting Alessandra Antolini with a commemorative plaque, as a symbol of the shared goals that unite us. For its creation, we selected Vitulano stone, a material of great historical and cultural value, still relatively undiscovered within the extraordinary Antolini® collection - the President added - a material rich in identity, much like the meaning the plaque seeks to convey: a symbol of encounter, passion and continuity between different realities, united by a shared love for stone.” Vitulano stone, quarried in the Sannio area near Benevento, is renowned for its rich chromatic range, deep veining and its ability to convey a sense of millennia-old history.

Used since antiquity in monumental architecture and emblematic works, it has traversed centuries and borders, appearing in prestigious buildings both in Italy and abroad. In the 18th century, Charles of Bourbon selected Vitulano stone for significant architectural projects, including the Grand Staircase of the Royal Palace of Caserta designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, as well as for buildings in Naples, Rome and Benevento. From the late 19th century onwards, the stone expanded beyond national borders, finding application in France, England, North America and Australia, culminating in its notable use in 1922 for the cladding of the spires of the Moscow Kremlin, a testament to its internationally recognised prestige.

The President continued: “In the afternoon, during our visit to the Duomo di Milano, we encountered an extraordinary architectural masterpiece, built with the prized Candoglia marble, a material embodying memory and durability, and a symbol of a timeless collective vision. We perceived its crystalline energy, delicately veined with soft pink hues, as an expression of the grandeur of Late Gothic architecture, giving rise to an authentic masterpiece, a true open-air museum”. “Candoglia marble reveals its full expressive power in over 3,400 statues, many of which are located on the cathedral’s façade, completed in 1805; in approximately 150 gargoyles lining the roof edges and buttresses, sculpted into animals and fantastical creatures; and in the 96 so-called ‘giants’, originally conceived as symbolic protectors against evil, carved onto the pillars (52 in total, corresponding to the weeks of the year) that support the vast vaults. This vertical momentum culminates in the 135 spires, adorned with statues of saints, heroes and historical figures. Among them stands the main spire, crowned at a height of 108.5 metres by the renowned gilded copper statue of the Virgin Mary, crafted from 6,750 leaves of pure gold and a symbol of the city since 1774. We admired a cathedral of monumental scale, designed with a Latin cross plan and a vast polygonal apse, capable of accommodating around 40,000 people. The five aisles, supported by forty pillars, together with the richly sculpted surfaces and the Candoglia marble itself, appear almost alive, worn by the gaze and devotion of countless visitors over the centuries. Even today, one is struck by the evocative interplay of light filtering through 164 large windows, including 55 monumental stained-glass compositions.”

“Everything speaks of centuries of history - the President continued - a history shaped by labour, dedication, ingenuity and faith, in which humankind has transformed stone into enduring works through timeless creativity and extraordinary construction techniques. Walking together beneath the soaring vaults, we experienced an atmosphere both intense and contemplative: immersed in a living narrative where spirituality and Gothic architecture intertwine, part of a timeless enchantment. We recognised ourselves within a tradition that continues to speak to us, to question us and to inspire us.” “As Donne del Marmo - the President added, visibly moved - we felt actively engaged in a dialogue between tradition, the present and innovation, custodians of an ancient knowledge, while also promoters of a new vision grounded in expertise, exchange and responsibility. We experienced two distinct yet profoundly connected moments, both reminding us of the greatness of marble and of the value of those who, past and present, choose to engage with a complex material capable of returning beauty and splendour beyond time and circumstance.”

Antonella Di Biase, President of the Association ‘Le Donne del Marmo’, concluded by summarising the experience shared with the members on 4 December: “I feel deeply happy, moved and proud. We are united by a strong sense of harmony, and once again we have recognised the value of being custodians of an extraordinary heritage, a gift from nature that deserves respect, care and an increasingly sustainable approach”.