Article:

This paper presents a critical analysis and reflection on stereotomy with thepurpose of updating its theoretical discourse. Having risen to the apex ofarchitecture technological possibilities in the 17th century, stereotomicconstruction lost its importance in favour of iron, steel and other materials andconstruction techniques brought by the Industrial Revolution. More recently,much owing to the possibilities offered by digital technologies, a resurgence ofinterest in the subject has spawned various researches which bring stereotomyback to the architectural discourse. Although technological applications anddesign innovations in service of stereotomy have developed in multiple interestingpaths, there is a lack of a common theory on the subject which is capable ofrelating these multiple apparently diverging stereotomic approaches betweeneach other and, maybe even more importantly, to the classical practice whichsparked the development this discipline. The research presented in this papershows how the digital tools were instrumental in bringing this tradition toarchitecture contemporaneity and how a current stereotomy is largely supportedby these technologies, while keeping strong relations to its classic origin.