The New Stone Age: architects rediscover an ancient building material

2020-03-04T18:37:00-05:00

“Stone,” says architect Amin Taha, “is the great forgotten material of our time. In 99% of cases, it’s cheaper and greener to use stone in a structural way, as opposed to concrete or steel, but we mostly just think of using it for cladding.”

Oliver Wainwright's takeaways from The New Stone Age, a current exhibition at the Building Centre in London.

The "great forgotten material of our time" appears to be bracing for somewhat of a comeback with architects like Amin Taha of London-based practice GROUPWORK (also one of the exhibition's cocurators) who are rediscovering many environmental, structural, fireproofing, and ultimately economic advantages of stone over concrete and steel structures.

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One week to go before The New Stone Age! An exhibition curated by Amin Taha @groupwork_arch, Steve Webb @webbyates, Pierre Bidaud @stonemasonry_comp_stonestair and the Building Centre team. Thank you @polycordesign and @stonemasonry_comp_stonestair for supporting. #NewStoneAge Image: 15 Clerkenwell Close by @timothysoarphotographer.

A post shared by Building Centre (@thebuildingcentre) on Feb 20, 2020 at 10:13am PST

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The New Stone Age: architects rediscover an ancient building material