“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.” — The Guardian
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.
"The perverse thing about concrete is that you take limestone, crush it, then burn it, by which time it loses 60% of its structural strength — so you then have to put steel reinforcement inside it," Taha tells Wainwright in the piece. "It’s total madness."
The New Stone Age will be on display through May 15.
1 Comment
There are more cementuitious facades nowadays especially for residential buildings. All-glass condos tend to look like offices.
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