The History of Marble Architecture Part 2

15 Dec The History of Marble Architecture Part 2

PART 2

Today, marble is an incredibly popular building material for homes and institutions. Here at I-Stone Granite, we get frequent requests to use marble in various housing projects. This is hardly a new style, though. Throughout history, marble has been one of the most popular stones used in the construction of large buildings. The practice of using marble goes back thousands and thousands of years. This short series will detail some of the different periods of marble use in architecture, as well as explain the purpose behind each period and why they used it. Here is a brief history on the history of marble in architecture…

Greek and Roman popularity

Although the Egyptians and Mesopotamians were the original practitioners of marble architecture, the use of the material in Europe was primarily influenced by its incredible popularity in ancient Greece, and especially in ancient Rome. In what is now modern day Italy, there is a wide assortment of unique marble options that made it the premiere building choice for ancient Rome. These include Botticino marble, Carrara marble, Pavonazzo marble, Siena marble, Red Verona marble, and Rosso di Levanto marble. To this day, marble is a large export industry for Italy.

Usage in art

The cultural association of finer things that has come to attach itself to marble has largely done so because of its usage in the world of art. This originates back to ancient times, when artists would be commissioned by upper class individuals to create large-scale pieces of work that were meant to stand the test of time. Marble was the material of choice for many of these artists for a handful of reasons. First, it was quite malleable for a sculptor, who could shape the stone without worrying about the rest of the piece cracking and crumbling as they did so. Along with that, many types of marble contain aesthetically pleasing streaks of color that interweave throughout the stone, which helped personify each sculpture.

Cultured marble democratized it

In the 20th century, marble moved from being a trait of wealthy or royal individuals, and worked its way into the middle class. This was owed to the actual creation of the middle class, which meant more people had the purchasing power to choose between different types of building materials. However, it is also due to the modern process of culturing limestone and creating marble, which democratized the material. Nowadays, any homeowner can choose to utilize this beautiful and durable material.