this year’s new year’s card also comes without sleds, snow and reindeer, but instead with a building material. is that appropriate? we think so. as architects, we constantly have to think about the materials we use. even if public debate is currently dominated by other issues, climate change is still the biggest problem of our time. that is why we are showing you a stone from the french atlantic coast this year.
stone is one of the oldest building materials. it is durable, resilient and individual: different treatments create a variety of surfaces. there are stones almost everywhere. they shape landscapes and buildings. think of the greek temples, the roman aqueducts or the magnificent onyx walls in the pavilion of our aachen colleague mies van der rohe in barcelona. and every stone tells a different story – the story of its origin, for example, and the history of the place where it occurs. however, a stone should be left at the place where it occurs, that’s where it belongs. you should also avoid long transport routes. and if you take stones out of nature, you should reuse them for as long as possible.
following these instructions for use, you can now reverently shiver with the season: stones are simply beautiful, sometimes almost magical. each one is a unique specimen. the colors, hardnesses and patterns of stones are so diverse that you would love to build only with stones, if only – see above, you shouldn’t . we can, however, refurbish old, used stones and put them to new use: reduce, reuse, recycle! by the way, on the atlantic coast it is forbidden to simply take stones with you, no matter how handy they are. so instead, enjoy this card, which you can’t throw that well, but you can send and hang it very comfortably.
for the new year, we hope you manage to get under someone’s skin and get as many stones rolling as possible.
kadawittfeldarchitektur
