Large-scale tertiary projects or unique interior design projects, Mineral Art Concept brings the use of terrazzo back up to date through the perpetuation of a thousand-year-old know-how.
Artisanal start-up with extraordinary skills, Mineral Art Concept is the only manufacturer of genuine terrazzo in France. Particularly used in Antiquity, terrazzo is a composite material made up of fragments of marbles, cut into very diverse shapes, mixed with a binder (lime or cement), polished and with a shiny appearance similar to natural stone. THEThe choice of grains, the granulometry, the seminato (sowing of the grain) or the colors of the earths used offer multiple possibilities of compositions, giving this ancestral technique multiple decorative possibilities.
As stated by Maxime Touil, founder of Mineral Art Concept, “ this knowledge does not come to you, it is necessary to take the step. “ It is indeed necessary to have an in-depth knowledge of natural materials (lime, marble aggregates, pigments), synthetic materials (cement, resin, etc.) and colors to create your own manufacturing recipes. By offering a range of choices of great finesse thanks to the use of specific soils (Sienna, ochres from Afghanistan, iron oxides from Egypt), the guiding idea remains the control of the terrazzo production chain from A to Z, from the formulation of the formula to the laying of the material on site, in slabs or poured. “I make myself a laboratory on the site”, explains Maxime Touil. “It is a meticulous development, where the intervention and the mixtures are often carried out directly on site. We cut marble and other materials and create a unique identity for each project. »
Projects on varying scales and with specific identities
The diversity of the scale of the projects is indeed striking . “ Architectural firms consult us for large-scale tertiary projects, but also to carry out exceptional projects with a unique identity ” , he notes. “And even if our product is U4P4[soit très résistant] , it remains a real work of goldsmith! “ For large-scale projects, such as the decor of the Brûlerie de Belleville telling the story of coffee roasting, the sourcing of stones and pigments remains fundamental, with here the notable choice of an Emperador marble from Spain. For the work of covering the walls of a Parisian hotel in Scarpa terrazzo, 3,000 pieces of marble were cut by hand.
Very recently, Mineral Art concept has dedicated itself to shaping the only mineral terrazzo pool in the world. “The wall, floor and staircase facades are completely cast in one piece. We also created a cascading gradient in Rosso Levanto marble from the ends to the interior floor » , continues Maxime Touil.
But the finesse of Mineral Art Concept’s terrazzo work can also be seen in smaller dimensions, to unify all the rooms in a kitchen or to create a bar counter. This is the whole identity of the main Parisian boutique of the “Le Tanneur” brand, which has been redesigned in terrazzo fashion. “We have mixed various materials there, namely blown Murano glass, brass, shards of marble pre-cut by hand in the workshop and marble aggregates. This made it possible to create a unique floor, with a particular identity. “
Laurent Catala
The vision of Mineral Art Concept is based on an approach combining contemporary and Antiquity. Product formulation is entirely artisanal, and requires in-depth knowledge of natural materials (lime, marble aggregates, pigments), synthetic materials (cement, resin, etc.) and colors to create their own manufacturing recipes.
