Il ritorno della pietra nella pratica dell'architettura

The oldest building material in the world, stone still retains its modernity on the new millennium, giving birth to experimental shapes and new ways of expression. Designing and building according to the rules of good stone masonry implies more than the mere observance of modular stone block dimensions. They imply the authentic comprehension and pervasion of this dimensional order, a conceptual unity between the inner structure and the related surfaces. The rewarding aspect of mental and design processes of this kind and of the discipline to which they are subject lies in the authenticity of surface and depth. A facing stone facade raised over the outside of a concrete skeleton structure with no correspondence on the inside will be unable to provide this quality of authenticity. The stone reveals its true strength, however, not in the form of decorative facings, but when its aesthetic, and structural qualities are exploited to full effect and when it is used to establish meaningful links to tradition and to the existing urban fabric.