A Former Granite Quarry is Now Atlanta's Newest Park

Article by Camila da Paz | Source: Curbed Atlanta

Last week we made a delivery for a customer in Atlanta, GA and while up there, my colleagues stumbled upon an old granite quarry that helped built the city, but is now in the process of being transformed into a public park and water reservoir that will create 2.4 billion gallons of water to the city.

The area is located on the west side of Atlanta and is a place that most residents of the city say the geography reminds you of the Rockies that make up the western landscape of North America. The Bellwood Quarry was in operation for over 100 years.

For the majority of its existence the quarry has been used as a source of granite that were used in paving roads and sidewalks, as well as in some of the buildings in the city. Originally the quarry had a dual purpose, in addition to using the granite from the quarry, the county also used the quarry as a camp for prison labor.

A closer look at the prison labor system in Georgia and throughout the south reveals more than just a system of punishment for lawbreakers, but an extension of slavery and the racial tensions that dictated the politics of the south after The Civil War. After the prison labor system in the south was removed the quarry began to operate under the hands of private corporations. While the nation began to become more conscious, industrialization and environmental disasters created standardization for environmental inspections that the quarry and its owners had to conform to.

In more recent history the quarry has begun a new phase of use. As Atlanta’s industrial past has waned, the city has turned to new sources of economic growth. Atlanta has begun to market itself as a city friendly to the production of television and movies, such as The Walking Dead, Hunger Games, and Stranger Things. This in turn has made the Bellwood Quarry a popular spot for shooting both television and movie scenes. The city hopes that through the beltline revitalization project that people will be enticed to move back into that area of the city.

The rather enormous greenspace runs through Atlanta like nature’s circulatory system. Also, an unusual quarry-like elevation was incorporated into the park’s plans to provide views not only of the beautiful, active park, but of the city beyond as well. Playgrounds, sports fields, recreation trails, and facilities will be arranged on upper and lower meadows. The expansive water feature built into the park plan will double as a 2.5-billion-gallon reservoir, a month’s reserve supply of clean Atlanta drinking water, thanks to a five-mile-long tunnel that will extend from the Hemphill water treatment plant to the Chattahoochee River, through the quarry site.

After more than a decade of planning, the construction is underway for the Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry, a sprawling tract that will become the city’s largest park. The first phase of the 280-acre park is completed, but close to public at the moment due the pandemic. Once the Westside Park is complete, Atlanta will be home to over 400 parks.

And that is a great way to transform a city's history and natural resources!

Rocking an OG Jordan

Scottish artist sculpts shoes that are not made for walking

Article by Camila da Paz | Source: Stone Sculpture

Not too long ago we wrote about Barbara Segal, the amazing artist who makes luxury bag out of luxury stones (if you missed this post, click here). This week I discovered yet another amazing artist who works with marble in another not very tradition way, and his name is Alasdair Thomson.

The Identity Collection (2013/2014) Carrara Marble + Wooden Hangers

At first glance, these pretty dresses look like just the sort of summer attire you’d have hanging up in your wardrobe. They are an off-white, almost grey color (a big trend this season) and are in frilly, boho-style that has become so popular. But, on close inspection, you will see that the lovely dresses are, in fact, made of marble – sculpted over eight months by Edinburgh-based artist Alasdair Thomson.

For Display Only (2014) Vermont Imperial Danby Marble + Wood

Alasdair achieved his degree in Art History from the University of Edinburgh in 2004, and his diploma in sculpture from the Scuola Edile in Siena in 2010. As well as making his personal work, Alasdair has completed sculptural commissions for clients such as Nike, Puma and Arkk Copenhagen, amongst others.

Alasdair Thomson had this to say when we questioned him on his work: "I have been fascinated by the way that fabric folds and hangs, and I am seeking to represent those forms in marble as accurately as possible.

It is also a fun idea to make something look very soft out of something that is very hard."

There Was An Error In Placing Your Order (2018) Carrara Marble

"I am always excited to see people’s reactions to my work, and I enjoy challenging their expectations of what is achievable in stone."

That, basically, says it all, with the possible exception of some technical information on him and his art.

Alasdair Thomson lives and works as a sculptor in Scotland’s capital Edinburg. He studied art history specializing in the Renaissance Period of the 1400’s and discovered his interest in sculpting.

After graduating he sought and found an experienced sculptor to train with. He absolved his further training in the USA during the following few years. To broaden his professional base he enrolled in a program at Siena’s Scuola Edile, from whence he graduated with a diploma in stone sculpting.

Various marble sneaker projects, including personal work, work for private clients, corporate work and public commissions (2017 - 2020)

His favorite material to make the sculptures is marble from Carrara, which he has been working with for years. The white or blue-grey material is popular for building and sculptures. ‘I'm flattered that people really like this work. It really resonates with people, which is lovely - people identify with them.’ - says Alasdair. He won the People's Choice Award at Edinburgh's Royal Scottish Academy 2013 Open Exhibition, and is the recipient of a residency with the Carving Studio & Sculpture Centre in Rutland, VT, due to be undertaken in the summer of 2014. He also carved in 2019 the Nike’s Studio Of Dreams at Superbowl LIII in Atlanta, GA.

How cool is that guys? And again, natural stone never seize to amaze me with its beauty and versatility! I just love it! How about you?

An Abandoned Quarry in Spain Becomes a Minimalist Home

Article by: Camila da Paz | Source: Dwell | Photos: Ensamble Studio

Have you ever wondered what should be made out of abandoned quarries? I know many cities turn old quarries into public parks all around the globe and, I am aware of people getting their wedding reception in an old quarry in Italy, a luxury hotel built in an old quarry in China, an amphitheatre and swimming pools. (I promise I'll make a post for each one of them in the near future!) Reading about finding new purposes of old quarries I found this very interesting article by Dwell Magazine of a family who built their minimalistic home in an abandoned quarry in Spain. Here's their story:

Three summers ago, architects Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa went on vacation with their kids to Menorca island and, during their wanderings around the Balearic landscape, they stumbled on an abandoned sandstone mine near a local farm. Captivated by its material qualities—they conduct experimental research as principals of Ensamble Studio—they decided to acquire the land for an unusual excavation project. The architects wanted to convert the grotto into a place to live with the least possible disturbance, giving rise to Ca’n Terra, meaning "house belonging to the earth" in Catalan.

Through October 31, Ca’n Terra is available to tour virtually through T-Space, the Rhinebeck, New York–based gallery established by the Steven Myron Holl Foundation. The digital tools that Ensamble Studio used to survey, draw, and document the site create a virtual exhibition even while the pandemic keeps most cultural venues shuttered.

"Our goal is to touch the space very gently, to add the necessary elements to make it inhabitable and therefore preserve it and give it new meaning and new life," Mesa says. "It’s a project that found us. It’s something we came across; we found meaning in it, and once we saw it, it was probably the architect in us who just couldn’t ignore it." 

"The island of Menorca is filled with these very porous stone quarries," Mesa says. "We found one that was abandoned, and we just couldn’t refrain from purchasing the land where this quarry was and then intervening in it, without really having a reason behind it except that there was a lot of potential there to be worked with and to be explored." 

The four kids enjoy plentiful space for play and relaxation.

Mesa and García-Abril live in Boston, where García-Abril is a professor at MIT, and visit Ca’n Terra when they can—on vacations and with their studio. "It’s become like a spiritual retreat and a laboratory," says Mesa. "It’s a space that we keep transforming and we keep visiting to learn how to better adapt it. The project is not finished, in a way. It doesn’t have a finishing date. We need to live in it, we need to experience it to see what makes sense to continue adding more touches to it." 

The interior accommodations are spare: a hammock between rough-hewn walls, mattresses and pillows on stepped cuts of sandstone, a table and chair within a carved crevice, a sink installed between an opening of rock. Yet the extensive space makes room for minor design indulgences as well. A pool cut into a grotto, lounging areas and long couches fitted into rectilinear openings, a slim elemental railing, and an extravagant L-shaped standing desk form elegant compositions along stretches of exposed rock. 

A bike rests in a corridor at the entrance.

"There’s not a traditional organization of function and spaces," Mesa says. "What we did a lot of flexibility in how functions happen, so we haven’t assigned a fixed place to rest, eat, or socialize. In a way, the quarry serves as a canvas where activities can happen in different places throughout the year, throughout the day." 

The initial process of adaptation took place for over a year. The 19th-century mine had evidently been used by soldiers during the Spanish Civil War to store ammunition, and, they think, as a refuge. Furniture and personal objects remained, left open to the elements, and wildlife and animals from a nearby farm had freely wandered through. Using an existing well, solar panels, and an aerobic septic system, they powered equipment and sustained themselves as they removed a century’s worth of debris with excavators, power washers, brooms, and shovels. 

Thin translucent plastic sheeting allows light into the space while keeping out dust and animals.

"Extracting stone is perhaps one of the most primal modes of construction," continues Mesa. "What we’re interested in is something that is industrial at some point and has a vision of exploiting the land suddenly can become a space that nature can claim back, or a space that has other uses, other functions, other values, other lives. What is a pity for us is to make such an effort of excavating and extracting the material and then not seeing the value of what is left behind." 

Aiding their conceptualization of the interior plans, Ensamble used a 3D laser scanner to capture high-precision 3D information with infrared light. From that, they created the model and drawings. "The discovery was a shock and also an act of faith," García-Abril notes during an online tour for the T-Space exhibition. 

"What we found was a dark hole we couldn’t even breathe," says García-Abril. "Here started the technology part, the architectural process, where we were capable to laser scan everything…We discovered through these prints the beauty of that space, how it was going to vibrate, and the amazing uncertainties that a man-made construction, without willing to be architecture, could contain as a space." 

A pool fills a grotto furnished with lounge cushions.

By cleaning the quarried walls, they restored the stone’s natural off-white color, allowing it to reflect greater sunlight into the volumes. Pouring concrete in parts of the ground gave them an even, smooth floor, and reinforced plastic sheeting hung on a metal armature creates a thin, translucent membrane between inside and outside, keeping out dust and animals—and balancing temperature and humidity. 

Because of the quarry’s inextricable connection to the exterior landscape, temperature variations throughout the days and seasons make some areas more hospitable than others. "So we wanted functions to move through the space and also react to the outdoor conditions," says García-Abril. 

A tree survives on top of a slice of rock cut to create a skylight.

To improve natural lighting and ventilation, the architects carved a square aperture through the ceiling of one quadruple-height volume. The excised stone fell into the quarry, bringing a tree along for the ride. It began growing on the cut-out plinth, lit from the skylight above, creating a charged, luminous moment that expresses the potential for breathing new life into an abandoned mine.