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I've long considered stone to be the acme of building matherials; for its combination of compressive strength and natural beauty. My father migrated from the Veneto region of Italy in 1952, went into concreting, stonework, terrazzo etc., popular to the late 1960’s. He had a natural ‘feel’ for and appreciation of stone. I guess I picked up this interest from him at an early age.


While traveling through the USA in 1988, I became interested in the architecture of H. H. Richardson. (The Ames Gatehouse, Mass., Trinity Church, Boston etc.)

Then, I worked in Italy for two years and this gave me the opportunity to study some of Europe’s great architecture. However, I was also disappointed to learn that many of the famous buildings are not built of stone, as I had thought they were, but are in fact, ‘stucco.’

Also, in south east Victoria, where I live, a submarine volcanic uplift created formations, colours and types of rock to equal the best in the world – black marble, jasper, granites, ryolite, quartzes, iron ore, basalt  - all readily available.


I began the design in mid-1991 but had to wait 16-18 months for the planning approval, all the while refining the plans. I was cutting rock all through 1993. Because the arches are not circular each voussoir  in the arches, windows and door frames has its own specifications and had to be numbered and stacked in correct order. You can download the program I wrote to calculate the shape of the arches and the angles to cut each voussoir.

Download the program

If you want to use this program you must run Excel (or OpenOffice Calc), go to Tools --> Macro --> Visual Basic Editor --> Run.

Two questions I am often asked are

1) ‘Did you ever wish you had never started?' and,

2) ‘Did you experience any setbacks?'

To answer the first question. No, not really. I have just broken the project up into a number of smaller parts and the completion of each of these has given its own satisfaction. However, many of the techniques I had to formulate without prior experience. With the wisdom of hindsight I could have done some things more effectively.

And yes, there have been setbacks. A building like this requires constant re-evaluation and changes and the building regulation system does not allow for this. Any alteration from the original plan must be given approval by the responsible authority. It can be costly and time consuming. (Ref: Christopher Alexander on this point.)

And the most often asked question? ‘When will it be finished?' What can I say? Its my Sisyphean task.

 



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