David Dernie
Laurence King Publishing 2003, hardback 240pp, £40-00
ISBN 1 85669 312 0

For anyone seriously interested in the use of stone in contemporary building projects, this book is not only a visual delight but an essential reference source to have on the shelf. The author persuasively argues that the current creative use of stone represents a backlash against the ‘formal tyranny’ of digital simulation and see-through space that dominates so much of contemporary architecture. This premise is developed in four sections – ‘the Power of Stone’, ‘Building in Stone’, ‘Petrified Landscapes’ and ‘Urban Stones’ – and via thirty three case study projects from around the globe. The examples are well chosen and include stunning work by architects more usually associated with the high-tech end of the design spectrum such as Michael Hopkins, Renzo Piano and Ian Ritchie, as well as other luminaries such as Eduardo Souto de Mouro, Alvaro Siza and Rafael Moneo who have formed their reputations on the materiality and contextual responsiveness of their buildings.

In addition, the book provides useful background to current quarrying and processing methods as well as cladding techniques, with detailed analyses of the constructional challenges associated with the use of stone in differing climatic and cultural conditions. New Stone Architecture is far from being a technical manual, however, and the intelligent essays that preface each section set the historical and philosophical context for a material that, more than any other, delivers regional identity. In this respect, and for other environmental reasons, the author makes a compelling case for more local stone to be used in contemporary architecture.