1-2024: Stone
Architect Madli Kaljuste takes a look at Linnahall that hides traces of 400-million-years-old life in its walls.
The essay 'Sedimentary Flows and Creative Geologies' by Galaad Van Daele was commissioned for the publication Reset Materials--Towards Sustainable Architecture, edited by Chrissie Muhr and published by the Danish Architectural Press (Arkitektens Forlag, September 2023).
When a certain building technology or material is sidelined for an extended period, one is bound to get the impression that it is intrinsically obsolete. This has happened with natural stone, which architects, when asked about its potential for use, describe only as being too expensive, too labour-intensive, incompatible with the public procurement system and, as can be witnessed in renovation projects, simply too complicated to build with. The inability to imagine a future different from the present is typical to the 21st century, and hence, the main use of limestone in Estonia remains blasting it into rubble that can be utilised as landfill and concrete aggregate.
Thinking through stone opens up a fresh perspective on construction culture (and the lack thereof), availability of local building materials and their untapped (economic) potential, and, ultimately, on building truly long-lasting buildings.
