Exhibitors for the first time at 100% Design Stand No: C21A
Showcasing extraordinary marble design and technology from the heart of Carrara
The Marble Masters of Massa-Carrara
Massa-Carrara - it’s where Michelangelo chose the stone which became his masterpieces. The extraordinary area between the Apuan Alps and the coast is exactly where the world’s finest marble is sourced. This is where the UpGroup, one of Italy’s leading producers, has been headquartered since it was founded in 1969.
UpGroup Collaborations
Originally known as Up & Up, it was originally the vision of Voltero Tonlorenzi, technical designer who had worked at Olivetti to create a marble company like no other. Since then under he watchful eye of Gianni Baldini, and now Matteo Baldini the UpGroup has worked with some of the most significant designers in the world. The UpGroup facilitated and developed some radical new design thinking from the world’s most irresistible material. With their knowledge and craftsmanship the UpGroup has made the impossible happen. Their design collaborators reads like a whose who of contemporary design from Achille Castiglioni, Adolfo Natalini, Michele De Lucchi, Enzo Mari, Martin Bedin, Matteo Thun, Charles Pfister, David Palterrer, Ettore Sottsass, Aldo Rossi, Alessandro Mendini, Sergio Asti, Mario Bellini, Guglielmo Renzi, Danilo Silvestrin, Luca Scacchetti to Philippe Starck, Marco Piva, Ugo La Pietra, Paolo Ulian and British duo Feix & Merlin. Each project has been achieved with the utmost skill, care and commitment.
With each of these great architects and designers, UpGroup has not only created exclusive objects and unique inlays, lamps, tables, and bathrooms, but also furnishing and fittings for fine hotels and elegant yachts. Many of these designs will be on show in the UK for the first time at 100% Design.
Marble Innovation
The UpGroup has developed important research projects into new processing technologies, pioneering innovative techniques that have contributed to the different ways the designers work using marble from integrated smart home technology to laser technology. Projects include a partnership with the CNR (National Research Council) and the universities of Pisa and Florence, now making it possible to cut and engrave the stone with extreme precision.
About the UpGroup
The UpGroup was founded in 1969 in the Massa region of Italy, the home of Italian marble. Their workshop is a little like entering a time machine, where meticulous crafting is carried out alongside the latest state-of- the-art production technology.
Their team includes the quarryman who extract the raw material, the craftsmen who work with it, draughtsmen, engineers, geologists, and architects who add form and “reason” to the marble, so that it can be used in the most diverse projects.
This is the unique strength of UpGroup: a team which embraces the entire production cycle, accompanying the marble from the quarry through to finishing touches at the installation site.
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