The city of Helsinki has started the renovation of the Finlandia hall, well-known also for its marble facade and interior decoration with natural stone. The congress and concert building was planned by architect Alvar Aalto and finished in 1971. The refurbishment from the roof to the cellar is due to be finished in 2024.

The dates for the natural stone trade fairs in 2022 are gradually being published. Our trade fair calendar provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date overview.

The Washington Post has a report about the restoration of the Jefferson Memorial. The marble sufaces had been heavily discolored by biofilm.

The James Simon Gallery on Berlin’s Museum Island has won one of the RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2021. The building by David Chipperfield Architects will serve as a central access point to all the museums there (1, 2).

Market researchers from New World Wealth have analyzed the top hotels and trains for the rich, with a spotlight on the top destinations in the Middle East and Africa. The luxury hotel sector is one of the most important sectors globally as it brings a large amount of forex spending into certain markets. It also creates a large number of well-paying jobs.

The peculiarities of the Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit are described in a report.

“Our Cultural Heritage Is Who We Are. It’s Our Identity“. A Getty intern checks in on mosaic conservation at Volubilis in her home country of Morocco.

“How far can the artificial imitate nature? IT’s time for research!“ was the topic of a dialogue at the Cersaie, the trade fair for ceramics and bathroom furnishings 2021 in Bologna. Copying natural stone was a central issue (Italian).

Red sprites are lightning bolts that strike out of the clouds and up into the sky during particularly violent thunderstorms. They reach heights of up to 100 km, are extremely faint and therefore hard to photograph.

“Trends in development of architectural and planning solutions for Parish Church Complexes“ was the title of a web conference. A modern temple should be understood as a multifunctional complex for educational, charitable, leisure and other activities, was one of the key statements.

Minéralinfo, the French portal for mineral resources has been completely redesigned. It is published by the Ministry of Ecological Change and the National Geoservice (BRGM) (French).

Cosentino has launched its 16th Design Challenge. Young architects and designers are invited to enter ideas for the usage of the Spanish company‘s engineered stones.

Italian company Molino Gaspari has developed a new process for milling wheat with traditional millstones (Italian).

Video of the month: The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma has been continuously active since September 19, 2021 (Drone flight, Lava, Lava flows into the sea). A webpage of the Spanish Instituto Geográfico Nacional has scientific information and a photo gallery (Spanish).

(01.11.2021, USA: 11.01.2021)