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Failed Stone
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To my children: Galvin, Carly and Liam
May the buildings that house you in
the future benefit from the experience
gained from buildings in the past.
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Patrick Loughran
Failed Stone
Problems and Solutions with Concrete and Masonry
Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture
Basel · Berlin · Boston
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We would like to thank the Graham Foundation for
Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for their generous
support of this publication.
“When I was a little boy…..
I used to walk by the beach and move stones
Just so there would be some residue of my existence,
Some change in the world
that resulted from my having been there.”
Richard Solomon, 2002 speech
Director of the Graham Foundation from 1993–2005
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Table of Contents
Preface 6
Thermal Hysteresis 10
Impact 22
Efflorescence 34
Surface Defects 48
Discoloration 70
Corrosion 92
Structure 108
Leakage 130
Acknowledgments 152
About the Author 153
Selected Bibliography 154
Index 156
Illustration Credits 159
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White marble buildings had become notorious
failures that were being re-clad with metal
and granite façades. I was shocked to find
out that Finlandia Hall was re-clad with the
same material that originally failed: thin white
marble panels from Carrara. Incredibly, the
photo on the cover is not of the original build-
ing, but of the replacement panels just a few
years after installation. This architectural
tragedy reminds me of a quote from George
Santayana, an American philosopher and
poet, “Those who cannot learn from history
are doomed to repeat it.”
The mission of Failed Stoneis to present
knowledge from past projects in an effort to
prevent the occurrence of future problems.
Preface
AsFalling Glassdescribed the limitations of
6 7 glass in façade design, Failed Stoneprovides
In the spring of 2002, I wrote a book entitled a guide to better understanding concrete,
Falling Glass: Problems and Solutions in masonry, and stone. By sharing the lessons
Contemporary Architecture. The research for learned from great works like Finlandia Hall,
Falling Glasshelped me understand how my hope is to enhance the art of building.
glass failures could be avoided and enlight- I am fortunate to practice architecture in
ened me as to which innovations were being Chicago, a city rich in architectural history.
explored within the glass industry. Originally, Chicago’s great architectural past can come
the book was to include the investigation of at a price. Turn-of-the-century buildings con-
a variety of building materials. Ria Stein, the structed with corroding carbon steel connec-
book’s editor, encouraged me to concentrate tions represent a hazard to pedestrians at the
on glass with an offer to investigate other street level. Loose terra-cotta fragments have
Terra-cotta blocks netted materials in future publications. Failed Stone fallen to the street requiring many of our walk-
over to prevent from falling to represents a continuation of my research ways to be sheltered with protective scaffold-
the streets, Mather Tower, on building materials, specifically concrete, ing. These older terra-cotta buildings are not
Chicago, 1928.
masonry, and stone. the only masonry element with problems.
To the untrained eye, the cover photo of this More recent developments in masonry, such
page 7 Concrete structure
of Rhône-Alpes TGV Station book appears to be a wonderfully textured as the mortar additive “Sarabond”, have
at the Lyon Airport, 1994. material creating a basket weave appearance. brought about catastrophic building corrosion
To people familiar with façade design, the failures throughout the world. What at the
image shows the stone cladding of a world- time seemed like an innovative new product
renowned project, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, turned out to be an admixture which has been
designed by architect Alvar Aalto. The bowed blamed for brick walls falling off of the face
panels were not part of the original design, of new buildings. Although I believe there are
but the effect of thermal hysteresis on flat lessons to be learned regarding the use of new
white marble from Carrara, Italy. The panels products on large-scale projects, my intention
deformed to an un-repairable state just is not to discourage the pursuit of innovation.
10 years after completion of the project, On thecontrary,I hopeto encourageitthrough
requiring the complete re-cladding of the shared information.
entire building at a cost of more than 3 million
euros. As I initially researched this project, As the subtitle suggests, this book is not all
I had an understanding that the façade prob- about the problems, but also the solutions.
lem had been repaired in a similar fashion The architectural community is on the cusp of
to many other buildings throughout the world. breaking tradition with materials that have
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the creation of amazing structures like the
Rhône-Alpes TGV station at the Lyon Airport;
however, the collapsed precast panels at
the Terminal 2E at the Charles de Gaulle Inter-
national Airport in Paris are a sober reminder
that concrete has limitations.
Stone has traditionally been used in massive
sections to enclose our churches allowing
stain glass to bring light inside. Today modern
cathedrals such as Our Lady of the Angels
in Los Angeles use exposed colored concrete
to form its thick walls and 11/ cm (5/ inch)
2 8
thick alabaster stone to bring light into the
church. Ironically, these stone panels are
protected on the outside by glass, reminding
designers that as stone becomes thin, it
right Alabaster window.
also becomes weak. The E.N.S.A.D. – Ecole
Cathedral of Our Lady of the
8 9 Angels, Los Angeles. Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs
been used for centuries: concrete, stone, and façade shows the limitations of thin stone.
masonry. Innovations with concrete in particu- The Paris school is composed of a translucent
lar have pushed it to the forefront of architec- marble curtain wall. A fine layer of marble is
tural design solutions. Today architects are laminated to the glass of a traditional curtain
using concrete in revolutionary new ways. wall system. The fabrication of these glass
Superplasticizers are added to mixtures to and stone units requires the exterior stone
keep concrete fluid during pours. Fiber rein- surface to be polished down to a very thin
forcement technology has abandoned the layer in order to improve light transmittance.
limitations of steel rebar structures. The possi- The building’s stone appearance has been
bilities of concrete seem endless. We photo- challenged by people throwing rocks from
engrave our concrete to bring it to life. We add the street which penetrated the stone façade.
copper aggregate to give it a natural green Other stone façades have followed the
patina that changes with time. The industry E.N.S.A.D. project with the hope of resisting
has even developed a concrete mix that is much more severe attacks. The Israeli Foreign
above The translucent translucent to allow light into concrete spaces. Ministry Building provides a beautiful stone
marble façade is prone to The use of modern concrete has allowed for façade designed to resist bombs. The façade
vandalism and breakage.
E.N.S.A.D. – Ecole Nationale
Supérieure des Arts Décora-
tifs, Paris.
right Translucent stone
façade allows light into the
building. E.N.S.A.D., Paris,
1997
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has challenged that perception with masonry
structures that are light and fluid. His build-
ings celebrate the ingenuity of a great design-
er who was not limited by Uruguay’s construc-
tion materials or labor force. Similar to brick,
the use of terra-cotta is experiencing a re-birth
in modern architecture. Many architects had
abandoned terra-cotta as an old fashion deco-
rative element prone to corrosion problems
in buildings from our past. Architects such as
Goettsch Partners have given this traditional
material a dynamic new life in modern archi-
tecture with terra-cotta panels designed to
resist weather and corrosion.
Part of the credit for these advances in con-
crete, stone, and masonry goes to new tech-
nologies from the construction industry and
part goes to the imaginations of the architec-
tural community. This publication serves not
only to educate architects, educators, and
students on the principles of concrete, stone,
and masonry design, but to foster the pursuit
of new ideas within the construction industry.
The projects discussed in this book were
developed by some of the greatest architects
of the 20thand 21stcenturies. They are innova-
tive, creative designs. With any new creative
endeavor comes the possibility of flaws and
in some cases the possibility of “failed stone”.
This book describes many of the problems
behind today’s contemporary façade designs
and offers possible measures designers can
take to prevent problems. Each chapter of the
book focuses on a particular mode of failure.
The introduction of the chapter will discuss
the fundamentals of the problem. Specific
building examples will follow with explanations
of how the type of failure can be detected.
Terra-cotta panel façade, of the reception hall includes panels so thin The end of each chapter will conclude with
designedbyGoettschPartners, that the wall lights up like a lantern at night. recommendations as to what could have been
Hessel Museum, CCS Bard The onyx panels are more than beautiful. They done differently to eliminate or minimize the
College, New York, 2006.
have been designed with spring clip connec- risk of failure.
tions tested for blast design. Today’s stone
enclosures can provide both light and protec- While this is a book about failures, it is not
tion to the inhabitants within. about liabilities, and the issue of whose fault
these failures were remains deliberately un-
Designers are transforming materials of the discussed. The intention was not to determine
past like masonry into materials of the future. responsibilities for past mistakes but to help
A traditional perception of brick is that of a avoid similar problems in the future.
building tool used for heavy-looking buildings
with straight lines. The work of Eladio Dieste
