RE-SET IN STONE
“The project proposes a network of ‘fabricated quarries’ storing and distributing both fresh and reclaimed building stone, making the material supply chain visible, and decentralizing the production of construction materials. As the structures of the fabricated quarries become forms of storage, they exhibit the stones as raw materials, building components and a continuous part of the urban environment at the same time.”
Ezgi Terzigolu, 2021.
SYNOPSIS
The building culture is conditioned to transform and downcycle the mineral resources through high energy consuming processes. Most of these resources have sufficient structural qualities in their raw form. Can we value and promote the inherent qualities of mineral resources as finished building materials, and reject to transform them until they become waste?
In the escalating climate crisis, architects can play a better role in understanding their relationship to material fluxes. The sourcing process of materials should become an integral part of the urban environment, while being visible and participatory to its inhabitants.
Sustainable strategies in the construction industry should start with changes in policy, including encouraging the production of dimension stone over aggregates, supporting reuse in construction, and removing limitations on stone construction in building regulations.
The project proposes a network of ‘fabricated quarries’ storing and distributing both fresh and reclaimed building stone, making the material supply chain visible, and decentralizing the production of construction materials. As the structures of the fabricated quarries become forms of storage, they exhibit the stones as raw materials, building components and a continuous part of the urban environment at the same time.
A stone building is the quarry for the next stone building.