Client / Lithea
Year / 2026
CAVEA is a modular wall system inspired by the memory of marble quarries and the marks left by extraction processes. The project translates these traces into a contemporary architectural language, transforming the surface into a continuous material landscape.
The elements composing the wall are engraved with a regular sequence of vertical lines, evoking the cutting marks of stone. These incisions define the visual identity of the system while also serving a technical function: they conceal the joints between modules, allowing the surface to be perceived as a unified whole.
The system is designed to be assembled by overlapping: the elements are stacked one above the other thanks to a small linear recess on the back of each piece, enabling a perfect interlocking between modules. This construction detail ensures visual continuity, stability, and precise alignment, eliminating any perceptible discontinuities.
In this way, the modularity disappears in the overall perception, giving rise to a monolithic effect, where the wall appears to be composed of long elements, as if carved from a single block.
CAVEA presents itself as a vibrant mineral skin, capable of interacting with light and space, creating depth and rhythm through a measured and rigorous engraved pattern.
The system interprets the wall not as a simple cladding, but as an active architectural element, carrying memory, structure, and narrative. A device that transforms matter into a storytelling surface, combining extractive tradition, construction expertise, and contemporary precision.
Credits and technical information
Concept and Design / Martinelli Venezia
Materials / Lava stone
Dimensions / single tile 500 x 90/100 x 20 mm
Photo / Nino Bartuccio