NOVEMBER 2018 – My fascination with stone architecture continues to grow and I think it is most unfortunate that here in New England we see so few examples of it, outside of rare municipal buildings, and the stray historic site. Would love to see it have a resurgence and return to form as an elite source for building construction materials. It is incredibly durable and has the potential to be very ‘green’ with little carbon footprint (depending on the source of the stone and the distance it has to travel to the building site). Stone has been used to create homes for millennia, only to fall off in the last fifty plus years or so.
I’ve picked up two books on stone masonry from the library and watched a bunch of youtube videos on people that have built with stone (mostly in a historic restoration, versus new build). I see so much potential for its use in a combined project building involving lots of glass (which is made from liquid sand) and stone for modern 21st century buildings. They would be incredibly strong, long lasting, and with the right building techniques and modern air sealing, very eco friendly and cheap to heat/cool. That’s been on my mind a lot lately, need to do some sketches for building designs. As I’ve mainly been looking at classic stone work homes made to a green passive house standard, versus more modern designs.
November travels have brought me to Maine, Portland Maine to be specific for those of you keeping score at home, haha. Fittingly, crossing the state line into Maine brought with it snow on the ground and a sense of friendliness and warmth from its inhabitants that was a lovely contrast to the cold outside (side note, it was comparatively mild versus how cold I expected it to be. Classic expectations versus reality at play there, haha). The city of Portland is on a peninsula, is exceedingly walk-able, has delicious restaurants (at a rate of more per capita than any other small city in the US I was told), and offers views of the Atlantic and misty mornings.
Reminded me a lot of home and I think like many others, there is just something about being near the sea and feeling its presence in your life that changes you in a subtle way. With upwards of 60% of the human body being water, perhaps it isn’t so strange that we have such a kinship with it?
Been in a very pensive mood lately, as the days shorten, the weather turns cold, and thoughts of the future take hold of the night. Reading has been exceedingly good to me, I’m loving ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’, highly highly recommend it to the fantasy readers out there and otherwise for those of you who might be up for a challenge and enjoy a coming of age adventure story. This is a true gem.
Warm yourselves by the fire my friends, and may this Winter and holiday season be ever generous to you!
~ CS
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