Urban Design, that is, the activity of designing urban structures and settlements, is an extraordinarily topical and relevant issue. The scope of the topic appears to be intuitively evident: suffice it to say that, according to the most accredited international studies, by 2050 about 70 % of the world's population will live in cities.

The quality of construction and building materials, consequently, takes on exceptional significance today, economically, socially and culturally. Italy has historically led the way in the field, having been a laboratory of Urban Design ante litteram since ancient times, by virtue of its tradition of care for the aesthetics and functionality of cities.

It is no coincidence that the success of Italian Design in designing urban spaces in the most diverse corners of the world is accompanied by the extreme vitality of the Made in Italy Stone Industry.

The industry boasts an international market of more than 140 countries and counts the United States, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates and China among its top destinations.

The most recent data available, for the first half of 2023, show Italian exports of marble, travertine, granite and natural stone substantially holding up compared to the record values of the same period in 2022 (-2.6 %), totaling 1,010 million euros.

In 2022, total sales of the Italian stone industry, including both rough and processed, had grown by as much as 13.1 % year-on-year, reaching an all-time high of 2,131.8 million euros.

Driving block exports were mainly purchases from China, the first market for rough, with 91.3 million euros, and India, the second market, with 24.3 million.

On the other hand, as far as slabs and processed products are concerned, the ranking of the main destination markets sees the United States clearly in the lead, with purchases of 227.6 million euros, followed by Germany in second place with 74.2 million and France in third with 56.1 million.

As for the technology market, after the +1.7 % marked by 2022, the first half of 2023 showed further growth in foreign sales of machinery, plant, equipment and tools for quarrying and processing natural stone.

The United States confirmed itself as the main buyer of Italian marble processing machinery, with 101.9 million euros in imports, accounting for 18.3 % of total sector exports, further increasing from the record levels of the first six months of the previous year.

Sales to Germany, the second-largest market with 30.2 million, remained stable, and growth in Canada, the third-largest market with 27.5 million, strengthened, with India confirmed at the good levels of 2022 as the fourth-largest market with 26.9 million.

Negative notes include declines in our exports to three important European countries such as Poland, the fifth market with 24.3 million, Spain, the seventh market with 22.8 million, and France, the ninth market with 20.9 million.

These declines were offset by increased sales to Portugal, which in the first half of 2023 stood out among the most dynamic markets for Italian exports, sixth market with 23 million, as well as to the United Kingdom, eighth market with 21.5 million, and Turkey, tenth market with 20.1 million.

The Italian stone sector, in good substance, on international markets represents an excellence both for the quality of the materials offered and for the refinement and innovativeness of the technologies used in processing.

An emblematic business case, to drop these general concepts into the living world of companies, can be considered that of Antolini Luigi & C. S.p.a.

The Veneto-based company, founded in 1956 in Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, has for decades been an authentic point of reference for experts in Design and Architecture, thanks to the variety and value of the marbles, granites, onyxes and alabasters marketed.

In some cases, Antolini's proposal takes on the character of absolute exclusivity, such as for the materials extracted in the proprietary quarry of Breche de Benou, in the French Pyrenees, or for Nero Assoluto Zimbabwe, managed by the subsidiary Zaibù precisely in Zimbabwe, or for Bianco Lasa | Covelano Vena Oro, a marble of extreme quality launched in 2023.

At the same time, the company has also always pushed on the side of Design and Innovation, constantly investing in the development of new technologies and the adoption of state-of-the-art machinery.

Thus in 2007 the Antolini Vacuum Process AVP patent was filed, to consolidate, through the latest technologies on vacuum, the thickness of the plate with special resins of exceptional quality, so that even rare and delicate materials can be processed.

In 2017 the company offers the revolutionary Azerocare treatment, the first specific treatment for marble and onyx, designed to guarantee maximum protection against stains and corrosion caused by the contact of materials with food and acidic substances.

In 2018, Azerobact antibacterial treatment, an innovative treatment for natural stone, is introduced in the processes, which allows preventing the growth of mold bacteria, with positive effects both for the beauty of the products and for people's health.

In 2022 Antolini developed Azerocare Plus, an evolution of the technology introduced in 2017, which concerns a highly innovative process, specifically for Lether and Matt finish surfaces, such that it offers outstanding protection against stains and corrosion caused by contact with acid-based organic substances, such as lemon and wine.