Load-bearing masonry isn’t exactly novel—stereotomic construction spans continents, cultures, and epochs. Despite stone’s ubiquity—throughout history and as a resource—steel and reinforced concrete have supplanted it as go-to structural systems, largely relegating the natural material to the task of facade cladding. That shift has had severe environmental implications—the production of steel and concrete produce over 15 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Stone comes in myriad types; some, more brittle, such as slate, are appropriate for roofing and siding; others with a sturdier composition, like sandstone, granite, limestone, and marble, have load-bearing applications. But they all have one principal structural limitation in common: poor tensile strength. Popular consensus claims that stone is prohibitively expensive and, on top of that, there is a dearth of skilled labor with experience working with the age-old material at a meaningful scale. However, with the help of contemporary construction techniques, a swelling movement seeks to take advantage of masonry’s compressive capabilities and sustainability credentials.
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