From residual stone to green grid skin facade, 6th Advanced Building Skin Conference & Expo 21-22 October 2021, 2021, Bern, Switzerland, Proceedings 2021, Advanced Building Skins GmbH, pages 81 - 90, ISBN 978-3-9524883-6-2

Abstract

This research is based on a previous critical observation, in face of an environmental problem that involves numerous quarries and debris of the marble basin in the anticlinal of Estremoz, Borba and Vila Viçosa, located in Portugal, where there is a huge waste of this raw material. Of the extracted marble stone, only 5% to 25% is used and marketed. The remaining 75% to 95% are considered waste stone rejected and dumped into the landscape around the quarries, by the industries of extraction and transformation of marble.
There are numerous potentialities of using these residual stones. We remembered the passive bioclimatic solutions of shading and ventilated walls with grid facades, of the Mediterranean tradition and the musharabiyas, from Arab origin, as well as this influence on Portuguese colonial architecture and its updating in modern Brazilian architecture, with the Cobógó, as well its returns in contemporary architecture applications. From these and other cultural references, we have created several modular grids for architectural envelop facades applications, kiosks and other urban equipment that will illustrate with drawings, projects and prototypes. Among the examples, the kiosk of Vila Viçosa stands out, - built in laminated stone plates, alternately overlapped in a full / empty composition - destined for the info tourist point, also functioning as urban lantern. The combination of green grid stone facades and the use of structural masonry with residual marble cyclopic blocks is another form of hybrid architectural application, such as in the case of the building project for the Vinery of Vidigueira.