For Casawi Magazine, a look at Amsterdam-based studio Solid Nature and its reimagining of marble, geology and nature through contemporary design.
Founded in 2011 as a natural stone supplier, the Dutch company SolidNature works with more than six hundred varieties of marble, onyx, quartzite, travertine and limestone. Over time, its role expanded beyond sourcing and supplying stone. Architects, designers, artists and fashion houses began coming with ideas that had never been attempted before, and SolidNature became the party figuring out how to make them happen.
The result is a body of work that moves far beyond traditional applications of natural stone. Fashion shows, retail environments, public artworks, cultural institutions and private homes. Projects for the National Library of Qatar, Fondazione Prada in Milan and the Yves Saint Laurent catwalk in New York. Collaborations with OMA, Jacquemus, Fendi and Sabine Marcelis.
The material is ancient, contexts keep changing. Their portfolio reflects that ambition. The National Library of Qatar. Fondazione Prada in Milan. The Yves Saint Laurent catwalk in New York. Collaborations with OMA, Jacquemus, Fendi and Sabine Marcelis.
Perhaps the clearest example of the complexity involved in working with natural stone is an onyx swimming pool built inside an Amsterdam townhouse. Onyx is a translucent stone: when you shine light through it from behind, it glows. Beautiful, but also delicate. The problem is that swimming pools contain chlorine, and chlorine slowly eats through natural stone, discoloring it, pitting the surface, breaking it down over time. Add electricity and water to that equation and you have a problem nobody had figured out how to solve. A project deemed impossible, but the results are stunning.
Other projects include sculptures installed near the pyramids of Giza, a fountain by Sabine Marcelis in Amsterdam's Vondelpark, and custom stone developed to match the exact colour codes of a luxury fashion house.
At Milan Design Week 2026, together with OMA/AMO, SolidNature created Il Sonno: a fully functioning supermarket in which every object was made from stone. Travertine milk cartons. Marble sandwiches. An onyx banana. Ideas that should not work, made to work. Contemporary design built from a material that outlasted other times.
Interviews with Robert van der Jagt and the SolidNature team, SolidNature project documentation and press materials, OMA/AMO project materials for Il Sonno (Milan Design Week 2026), National Library of Qatar project documentation, Fondazione Prada project documentation, Interviews with Sabine Marcelis on her collaborations with SolidNature.
Words for Casawi Magazine.
For Casawi Magazine, a look at Amsterdam-based studio Solid Nature and its reimagining of marble, geology and nature through contemporary design.
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