(June 2009) Only one fair will take place in Poland in November, as reports the journal Nowy Kamieniarz in its online-portal (Polish). It will occur from November 4th until 7th in the industrial city of Poznan and its name will be „Kamien-Stone”. „Kamien” had been the name of the traditional fair in Wroclaw.

Diamonds set in black marble are but one of the details of the tile series „LuxTouch“, produced by the London and Monaco based Pietra Firma. Further elements are agate and mother-of-pearl as well as the hand-made production of the tiles.

„Meister“ is a German craftsman’s distinction. In order to achieve this mark of excellence, candidates must produce a masterpiece. Examples of such masterpieces can be viewed in the trade publications Stein (German) and Naturstein (German).

The Global Stone Congress 2010 will take place in the Spanish city of Alicante. Themes are technology and science for the stone branch.

A new city district is to ensue in El Prat de Llobregat over the next 20 to 30 years. It is the location of the main Barcelona airport. According to the plans of the Amsterdam architects Claus en Kaan 5000 apartments as well as offices and company sites will be built.

A National Museum of African American History and Culture will ensue in Washington D.C.’s Central Mall. Building is to begin in 2012. The costs are estimated at 500 million USD.

At the Rencontres de la Pierre (French) in the French region of Junas artists from the Pacific Marquesas-Islands will be participating from July 2nd to 5th (French). They will chisel the ancient myth of the genesis of the archipelago in stone according to the French trade publication Pierre Actual (4/2008).

Paris aiming to be forerunner among cities redefining themselves according to the demands and challenges of the 21st century. Under the title „Grand Paris“ French President Sarkozy dispatched ten of the country’s best-known architects and city planners to develop ideas. The drafts will be exhibited until November 22nd in the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (French). Visitors are invited to participate in an online debate (French).

On the outskirts of the Chinese city of Shenzhen planers are working on a new city centre to include several hotels among other structures. Only recently another massive building project was approved in this exploding city.

Sculpture-by-the-Sea is an Australian project where sculptures will be presented not far from Sydney. This year from June 5th to 28th the project has a scion in Denmark. A sculpture symposium will take place from June 6th to 29th in the Swiss city of Winterthur. Information can be found on the Webpage of Scuola di Scultura di Pecchia.

Video of the month: the Japanese company Corporation uses computer-controlled jacks to dismantle and lower a skyscraper story-by-story.