Marmomac Academy - Joseph Grima: ON STONE LEARNING FROM LESSINIA

Lessinia's quarrying model is defined by its geology: the Pietra di Prun occurs in thin, naturally bedded strata, extracted by hand as slabs along the bedding planes rather than sawn from blocks. Each layer's thickness determined its use, so stone was sorted rather than processed, with minimal waste and short circuits between quarry and site. From this material condition a distinct building tradition emerged: monolithic roofs, dry-stone walls, lambel gutters and sinks, all derived from the slab as given. This talk examines what a tradition in which form follows extraction offers contemporary practice, and whether its constraint-driven logic can be generalised or remains specific to place.