Stone Stacking
Stacking stones, or rock balancing, is the patient art of stacking rocks in meticulous formations. Balancing stones has been a part of human expression for ages. The activity might have had religious or territorial meaning at one time. Today,there is a growing group who approach this craft as a creative activity like music, painting or sculpture.
Cobblestone Streets – Back to the Future
A recent conversation about preservation of historic cobblestone streets here in the United States, resulted in our discovering interesting images and articles written by others who are similarly smitten by genuine cobblestone use and re-use. As the major importer of reclaimed cobblestone from Europe (Historic European Cobblestone) we are drawn to anything related to this topic.
Airport Terminal Features Natural Stone
John Wayne Airport’s (JWA’s) new Terminal C opened in November to passengers in Orange County, California.Constructed by McCarthy Building Companies and designed by Gensler. Called Jura stone, the natural limestone is featured throughout the walls and floors in all terminals. Its most distinguishing characteristic is the natural quartz veins and variable fossils which are visible on the beige background. The marble was mined in quarries in Germany and cut, polished and fabricated in Italy.
International Stone Architecture Awards
The International Stone Architecture Awards were presented in Verona last month. The selection was based on the architectural quality of the projects and the expressive use of stone materials. As with previous editions, an “ad memoriam” award was presented, as well as one for vernacular architecture.
Stone Buildings
We are enthusiastic, yes even passionate, about natural stone in both building and hard-scape/landscape use. A resource like this can be helpful for any level of interest and ultimately increase ones understanding of stone in architecture.
Stone Flooring Considerations
When considering natural stone for flooring or dimensional use, we fully agree with this statement by the MIA; “There is no bad stone, only inappropriate selections for a given application and unrealistic expectations for a given stone type in a specific application.”
Landscape Award Recognition
The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA), Orange County Chapter, “Beautification Awards” were awarded to many outstanding landscape projects in Orange County CA recently. Proudly, our company supplied the stone to this award winning project located in Laguna Beach California.
Antique Cobblestone Hammer
An old, antique hammer used for cobblestone trimming, from the Davis Town Museum – a regional history, tool, and art museum in the hill country of central coastal Maine. We thought it was interesting to ponder the tremendous amount of skill, strength and patience needed to use this hammer. With it, skilled laborers were able to create the wonderful variety of shapes and sizes of cobblestone which were common many hundreds of years ago.
Great Green Homes
This interesting list of top ten environmentally friendly homes, showcases the efforts by architects committed to designing with sustainability as a priority.If you are considering building a Green home, and would like to include natural stone, give us a call and we can help locate resources that will meet LEED guidelines for the 500 mile requirement.
Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
Martin Luther King Jr. National Monument, stone and sculptor from China. In the end, artistic capability, stone color and quality beat out the U.S. competition. U.S. companies in the building and stone industry such as ours, are constantly competing with stone products and services being imported from China and others. The world is shrinking and a global economy is reality.