In recent years, structural stone in buildings has experienced a renaissance. This book offers a critical look at what the choice of stone is doing to contemporary architecture, in terms of both practice and form. Building in Stone Today takes observations of professionals at work architects, engineers, quarriers, builders but also clients and their advisors as its point of departure. The themes it addresses are stone's perceived novelty as a modern building material; the politics of its provenance; the logic of its supply; the expertise it calls upon; the labour involved in its extraction and assembly; its haptic qualities; and finally, its capacity to last. Assembling voices and commentaries from Spain, Switzerland and England, the book adopts a storytelling format. Drawing on several case studies, it places everyday situations in working with stone at its centre. Illustrated with analogue photographs by the author.

• Highlighting case studies from Switzerland, Spain, and England
• Structural stone connects contemporary design with the depth of the natural landscape and vernacular tradition
• The attractive volume explores the rich and complex practice of building with stone in Europe

Autorentext

Natália Pe ková is a Zurich-based architect and writer, graduated from the University of Cambridge (MPhil Architecture & Urban Design), the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris (MA Social Sciences) and the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris Malaquais (PhD Architecture).