FLUID STONE 2026
Reimagining Stone through Geometry, Robotics and Circular Design
Design: Vlad Tenu
Fabrication: Cereser Marmi
Photo: Neil Perry for EH Smith
A modular stone system
Fluid Stone is a modular stone installation by Vlad Tenu & Cereser Marmi that reimagines the traditional building block as a fluid, reconfigurable system. Using quarry waste stone, advanced computational design and robotic fabrication, the project creates lightweight yet strong geometries inspired by natural microstructures.
The result is a versatile system that can be assembled into furniture, partitions, structural or architectural elements—proposing a more sustainable, adaptable future for stone in design and construction.
Clerkenwell Design Week 2026
Exhibition
Fluid Stone was exhibited during Clerkenwell Design Week 2026. Installed as a pop-up exhibition at the EH Smith Design Centre from 19–21 May, the sculptural installation drew visitors throughout the festival and culminated in a multidisciplinary talk bringing together experts from architecture, engineering, material research and stone production.
Panel Discussion
A central moment of the installation’s presentation, the panel discussion held on 20th of May at EH Smith explored the intersection of computational design, geology and sustainable fabrication. Speakers included:
Vlad Tenu, Associate Architect at AHMM
Ian Hunter, Director of Materials Council and Associate Lecturer at Royal College of Art
Paola Blasi, Associate at Arup, Stone specialist & Geologist
Stefano Molinari, from Cereser Marmi
During the panel discussion accompanying the installation, Vlad presented the system's potential applications in product design, furniture, interiors or architecture.
Photos: Neil Perry for EH Smith
Design Process
Originally developed from research initiated by Tenu at the Bartlett School of Architecture in 2009, the project forms part his ongoing exploration into computational geometry, periodic minimal surfaces, advanced fabrication and material innovation.
The process involved many iterations of the key basic module and testing different scales, the study of various potential linear arrangements and possible combinations in three dimensions.
3D Sketch of the Fluid Stone Installation
The project investigates how material can be distributed more intelligently within stone construction using geometries derived from periodic minimal surfaces — mathematical forms often found in natural microstructures. Rather than relying on mass alone, the system achieves strength through geometry, allowing relatively thin stone elements to create self-supporting forms while using material efficiently.
By transforming waste stone into highly articulated components, the project proposes an alternative approach to stone construction in which structural performance, material efficiency and spatial expression emerge from the same geometric logic.
Structural Ornament
The research also revisits the historical relationship between structure and ornament in stone architecture. Through robotic fabrication, Fluid Stone creates self-supporting components in which structural performance and sculptural expression are inseparable, suggesting a contemporary interpretation of structural ornament that can operate across scales, from product design and furniture to interiors and architecture.
Strength through geometry
3D Render of the Fluid Stone Installation
Fabrication
The project was fabricated by Cerser Marmi in Verona, and it was developed using offcuts of San Sebastian limestone sourced from Croatia. Each component was fabricated using robotic stone-cutting technology, translating digitally modelled geometries into precision-carved modules.
Circularity
A New Life for Quarry Waste
The project proposes a new approach to stone construction rooted in circular design. The installation is composed of ten interlocking limestone modules robotically carved from reclaimed blocks of San Sebastian limestone. The stone was sourced from material that would otherwise remain underutilised within the quarrying process, giving a new purpose to blocks often overlooked in conventional production.
By using quarry waste as a raw material and creating components that can be disassembled and reconfigured, Fluid Stone explores how natural stone can become part of a more adaptable architectural system.
One System, Multiple Applications
FLUID STONE is conceived as a scalable design system rather than a single object or installation.
Through a combination of computational geometry, robotic fabrication and modular assembly, the same family of stone components can be adapted to different contexts and scales, from lighting and furniture to interior architecture and building envelopes.
By transforming reclaimed quarry stone into versatile building blocks, Fluid Stone proposes a new relationship between product design, interiors and architecture, where structure, ornament and function emerge from a shared geometric language.
Furniture
Sculptural objects for everyday use
Fluid Stone furniture explores how structural geometry can become functional design.
The modular system enables benches, coffee tables, consoles and seating elements that combine durability, material efficiency and sculptural presence.
Stone that Breathes
Fluid Stone demonstrates how a single modular component can generate inhabitable structures.The geometry provides opportunities for shading, privacy, ventilation and visual identity while maintaining the durability and longevity of stone.
By aggregating individual modules into continuous surfaces, the system creates lightweight, self-supporting spaces that blur the boundary between sculpture and architecture.
Architecture
Lighting
Carving Light from Stone
The porous geometries of Fluid Stone transform stone into a medium for light.
The intricate openings filter and diffuse illumination, creating atmospheric lighting objects that reveal the depth and complexity of the material.
Fluid Stone
One Geometry. Multiple Scales.
Partitions
Porous Boundaries
Fluid Stone partitions create spatial separation without enclosure.
The porous geometry allows light, air and visual connections to pass through while defining zones within homes, workplaces and hospitality environments.