Le Corbusier published Towards a New Architecture over a century ago, introducing the ‘free plan’ and ‘free façade’ as the result of material innovations in reinforced concrete and steel. Today, this system has become the default building strategy worldwide, applied indiscriminately across both single and one-hundred story structures. Such blind assumptions have come under increasing scrutiny in the era of climate crisis where the construction industry drives 40% of global carbon emissions, and in the next 50 years, the world’s building stock will double. Unless we radically rethink how we build, this growth will lock in catastrophic levels of emissions. Stone offers a compelling solution. Compared to reinforced concrete and steel, stone can contain up to 95% less embodied carbon, be assembled more quickly, and more cheaply.

This exhibition is a call to action – inviting students, architects, engineers, contractors, planners and manufacturers to rediscover the potential of structural stone and to help build a more sustainable future.

The exhibition features three large-scale stone-and-timber installations that showcase the possibilities of building with ‘augmented’ stone. Alongside these structures, the exhibition traces the historical use of stone and features projects by leading international architects. Seen together, The New Stone Age argues that stone is a viable, low-carbon alternative to conventional building materials such as reinforced concrete and steel.

Alongside the exhibition, Steve Webb will be joining Amin Taha and Pierre Bidaud in speaking at the Jeffrey Cook Memorial Lecture: A Measure of Architecture on 22 January. They will dive into how stone’s versatility, strength, and durability, combined with its abundance, affordability, and remarkably low embodied carbon, position it perfectly for a contemporary renaissance.