I've identified a new FALLACY in the DRY STONE world.
It's the FALLACY that a dry stone mason who uses too much technology un-becomes a dry stone mason.
Merriam Webster dictionary defines "fallacy" as "a false or mistaken idea". In this post, I want to obliterate this fallacy in order to spark some thinking about 3 objectives:
1) To open up what's possible with dry stone building in the 21st century using all forms of available technology such as a my Modern Stonecraft method.
2) To re-direct this misplaced, ego-driven attention on how dry stone masons build a project towards increasing our craft's overall visibility amidst the deluge of concrete products pouring down on potential customers.
3) By accomplishing the first two objectives we might be able to resurrect natural stone back to its rightful place as the world's premiere building material.
There's a spectrum of technology available and some amongst us seem to think that if a dry stone mason ventures too far from using only a hammer and chisel then he or she is no longer a dry stone mason.
At our 2016-2018 Truckee project, every piece of stone (ranging from 250 lbs to 3,500 lbs) was set with a handheld or machine-mounted vacuum lifter or friction grabber. We used all kinds of grinders, saws, chisels and hammers. The project was built using a simple innovation I created that I call Modern Stonecraft, which combines the ancient drystone building method, machine-based stereotomy and lifting technology to meet the demands of modern design
Most thought the project was unique, beautiful and extremely well-crafted, but a handful of comments were posted from traditional dry stone wallers in Canada, the East Coast and the United Kingdom deriding my crew as "assemblers" (not masons) and lambasting our using of grinders and saws. So be it.
Meanwhile, I work to keep my focus on what's possible, increasing our craft's visibility to architects, builders and homeowners and educating others about why natural stone is the world's best building material especially for outdoor features.
