Stone and the Interior Environment

Jonathan Zanger
Walker Zanger

According to history, Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his greatest sculptures were "prisoners, trapped within blocks of Carrara marble," and that he was simply the vehicle through which they were freed. The rough blocks of stone inspired him in much the same way that natural stone still inspires the creative impulses of artists, architects and the general public, for whom it has become ever more accessible.

In this issue of Building Stone Magazine, we explore the use of stone in interior architecture, in both commercial and residential applications. That use was once confined to grand public institutions and the homes of nobility and great wealth — or to those fortunate enough to live in areas where stone was an abundant and available building material.

Now, through innovative new technologies and vast new resources, stone is available in affordable formats for ever-greater populations, and in an abundance of varieties never before considered. Nevertheless, it is still the unrivaled beauty that nature provides that inspires us to revisit classical uses of natural stone and to imagine and create new ways to use an ancient building material.

As we hope this issue will demonstrate, interiors offer us the most plentiful possibilities for the use of natural stone. Few other materials are so suitable for both traditional architecture and the modern aesthetic. Architects and designers, confronted with an ever-increasing palette of colors and finishes, are discovering new ways to use stone in every conceivable interior environment. At the same time, they are rediscovering the age-old reasons why stone has always been prized — beauty, durability and a uniqueness that is impossible to recreate with man-made products.

At our firm, we are fortunate to work with many of the leading designers and architects in the country. We are constantly awed by the unusual and original ways in which these professionals work with a product that has been used in buildings for many thousands of years. While some are wedded to the wonderful traditions of stone architecture, others are constantly breaking new ground and inspiring us in the industry to develop new ways to cut, finish and install stone, ultimately expanding the "vocabulary" of the medium.

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