Quartzite floor by Leticia Finamore.

One of the challenges that most architects remember when talking about the specification of natural stone in their projects is to align it with the client's taste, budget and expectation. When the home owner is already passionate about natural stones, the challenge is overcome so it is possible to invest in a project with different stones, colors, types of finishes. This is the case for this week's story, which had all the details and specifications of the interior design done by the architect Leticia Finamore.

"The idea was to translate a unique and functional concept allied to aesthetics, giving personality and magnificence with the materials. The highlight was the choice of natural stones such as Bianco Superiore quartzite, which, in different finishes, provided the expected effect", Leticia explained when talking about the project.

More than 1,700 sqft of natural stone were used in different finishes, including countertops in the bathroom, kitchen, outside kitchen, and service area. "Right at the entrance of the house there is an unevenness and we took advantage of this detail to define the finishes. The Bianco Superiore quartzite was chosen as a beacon to alert the unevenness in an elegant way, and the material extends to the living room with a polished finish," said the Leticia.

In the outside kitchen, for a more funky proposal, the chosen finishings were brushed and honed (matte). "This is a light material, which blends well with other types of materials and brings sophistication to the space. We used the same quartzite, with different finishes, in several environments", explained.

The architect also points out that natural stone is a fundamental element in her projects. "Whether for countertops, flooring, stairs, furniture, or decorative pieces, stone brings irreverence, concept, glamour, and personality. The choice is always made according to the client's budget, the effect he wants to cause, and the composition and harmony with the other materials present in the projects", she pointed out.

Among her favorite natural stone materials, the one she chooses is quartzite - for its hardness, resistance, and beauty. "They are more unique and allow us more possibilities for composition, both with other stones and with other materials we use in our projects. One material I love is Cristallo, a noble rock that is possible to work with lighting," she concluded.

Source: Rochas de Qualidade

Architect: Leticia Finamore

Photography: Camila Santos

Miami Hidden Gems

Over 30-years old, the InterContinental® Miami is an icon of the Miami skyline and a keeper of art in unexpected places. In the early 1980s, Theodore Gould a developer from Washington D.C. built the Miami Center and the Pavilion Hotel, now the InterContinental® Miami. His vision was to create a world trade center-like complex in the heart of Downtown Miami which would sustain global commerce to Miami. To create this, he hired the renowned architect Pietro Belluschi, designer of the Juilliard School and the Pan Am (now Met Life) building in New York City.

Belluschi blurred the lines of art and architecture when constructing the Hotel. Numerous trips on the Concord netted the purchase of a travertine quarry in Italy for the project. No expense was spared as the antique Florentine marble covers the entire exterior and interior of the property.

The slabs were cut and numbered in Italy, shipped to the mouth of the Miami River and reassembled by number so the veining matched throughout. Other materials used throughout the interior of the InterContinental® Miami include Brazilian green granite Ubatuba, Portuguese rosate marble and South African black granite.

Precious woods are also used throughout the interiors, including the rare babinga from Africa and from the Orient burned cedar and black teak. The InterContinental® Miami and Miami Center complex are considered the largest marble structure in Florida. Today, the it greets over 500,000 people each year, guests and locals, all passing through the lobby and perhaps one of the most significant sculptures in the country, The Spindle.

Remarkably, it is the only hotel in the world to have been built around a work of art. In 1981, internationally renowned English sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986) was commissioned to create the 18-ft, 70-ton marble sculpture. Made of travertine marble with a base of Ubatuba granite from Brazil, it was dropped into the lobby space by helicopter and from that point the hotel lobby was built. The Spindle is the largest of the artist’s sculptures in private ownership and is appraised at over $20 million USD.

The Hotel continues to incorporate the arts through the use of technology. Its 2012 renovation included the installation of two 19-story LED digital canvases on the exterior of the building that have transformed the Miami skyline. Facing towards Downtown Miami, Miami Beach and the Port of Miami, LED lights create an animated and unique art experience on the Hotel’s tower.

The Spindle, sitting on a fountain pool under a clear story atrium roof, is now at the center of an interactive lobby with touch- screen technology and digital art walls that create a ‘new media’ art space at the hotel. The InterContinental® Miami, a true monument to art and luxury, is capturing the pulse of the New Miami – global, sophisticated, luxurious, artistic and edgy.

Source: InterContinental® Miami

Black & White Penthouse in Costa Blanca

Text description provided by the architects.

The project consists in the refurbishment of a penthouse located in the Costa Blanca of the Mediterranean Sea. The main floor, articulated in a single room, seeks continuity between the kitchen, the living room, the terrace and the landscape. On the upper floor, where the night area is located, the master bedroom opens out to the sea through a terrace and has a large dressing room that meets each one of the clients' preferences.

In order to delimit the spaces different elements are used. On the one hand, the staircase, made of white stone, conceived as a sculptural element that, together with the kitchen as furniture, allow the use of spaces.

On the other hand, a black stone element includes the humid areas and serves to configure the space of the master bedroom. Boosting the views of the Bay of Altea becomes the last and most important element of this proposal.

• Arquitectos: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

• Year: 2019

• Photographs: Diego Opazo