Stone-Ideas.com 
White Carrara celebrates its 10th edition with the title “Design Lives in the City” in the historic center of Carrara at the foot of the Apuan Alps. More than 30 works – urban furnishings in marble such as benches, collective seating, decorative elements, lighting systems, urban installations, resting devices, and lightweight infrastructures – designed by international designers and produced with cutting‑edge technologies by local companies – create a new urban geography destined to remain a permanent heritage.
The city itself becomes a museum and a laboratory, where each intervention contributes to the quality and usability of public space. The artistic director is Domenico Raimondi from thesignlab.
Following the 2024 edition (“Design is Back”) and the 2025 edition (“Design Here and Now”), which respectively explored the historical heritage of Italian and contemporary design practice, this tenth edition marks a further evolution: from an exhibition event to a permanent, city‑wide project.
The works developed for this edition interpret the theme of urban transformation through design in multiple ways. Among them: seating created from reclaimed marble slabs assembled into stratified volumes where polished surfaces and raw elements coexist, revealing the production process; installations that use organic and monolithic forms to redefine public space as a place of encounter and sociality; interventions that reinterpret functional urban elements such as bollards, soft‑mobility systems, or lighting, transforming them into expressive devices capable of shaping identity and atmosphere.
The event is grounded in a virtuous dialogue between design and production, strengthening the local supply chain and connecting technical, artisanal, and design expertise. The goal is to enhance marble as a contemporary and identity‑defining material, promote Carrara on the international design scene, and generate new economic, cultural, and tourism opportunities.
Participating designers and studios: Ross Lovegrove, Karim Rashid, Fabio Novembre, Serena Confalonieri, Nichettostudio, Antonio Aricò, Beatriz Sempere, Gumdesign, Emiliana Martinelli, Michel Boucquillon, Marta Sansoni, Claudio Nardi, Benvenuto Saba, Pietro Franceschini, Andrea Ponsi, Cynthia Sah, Marco Pisati, Nicolas Bertoux, Arthur Vallin, Michele Monfroni, Antonio Leone, Nicola Maggi, Rima Design, Formart, Nadia Sabbioni, Studio Lucifero, Andrea Spagnoli, Maurizio Michelotti, and Viviana Bianchi.
Participating production companies are: AD Marmi, Angeloni Marble Project, Arte Fer, Artco srl, Atelier Carrara, Bidese, BLC Carrara, Bruno Lucchetti, Campolonghi, Marmo Canaloni, Coop. Cavatori fra di Gioia, Studio Corsanini, FiammettaV, Il Fiorino, Studio Formart, Franchi Umberto Marmi, GipiSoft, Henraux, La Casa di Pietra, La Civiltà del marmo, Martinelli luce, Marmo+Mac, MaxMarmi, Michelangelo srl, Mondopi, Monfroni studio d’arte, Nicola Maggi Arte & design, Costa Paolo, Prato Marmi, Robot City, Rocchi Marmi, Rossi Pio, S.A.P. srl, SGF scultura, Silvestri Marmi, Franco Spagnoli, Studi d’arte Carrara, Tanini home.
We show some of the artworks.
White Carrara 2026 also hosts “DESIGNULTRA”, an exhibition curated by ADI – Associazione per il Disegno Industriale and presented in Piazza Alberica.
Photos: Nicola Gnesi, White Carrara, companies
