Studies On Architectural Stone Technics

Based on a comprehensive analysis of cases about natural stone used as building material all through human history, the study concludes that stone as a sort of building material its manufacture arts developed to match the need of architectural development.The author investigates the building process of existed stone buildings esp. those as human cultural heritages. Stone was first used as fundament material, then as pavement material. Consequently, stones were used in cave-buildings, beam-column buildings, vaults, etc. After that stone was never used as main structural materials. Consider that each type of building-functional system requests divergent material performance, any single type of building material is unable to satisfy all building-functional systems. However, cost pressure push people to use less types of building material. This contradiction between cost and function evolved building material manufacture and architecture. Therefore, the law of stone-structure technology development is: people intended to comprehend stones'nature as building material deeply, hence the manufacture technology intended to reveal stones'nature more. At last the level of material manufacture techniques developed and the mode the architecture adjusted as well.Moreover, man use stone to express intentions of architecture such as permanent, stable, rude, natural, noble etc. These developments of architectural arts revealed the relationship between stone and architecture itself.The stone art evolved because of the basic need of building materials, and the evolution was guaranteed by social-wide development of technology. Man face five main restrain factors when carving stones: energy, tool, technic system, control technology and the natural characteristics of stone.Architects need know basic technology of stone arts, and then they can understand the development of architecture itself rather than being restrained by current building technology.