Masonry Magazine September 1973 Page. 14
Smooth-faced, three-score customized units score handsomely in this wall of St. Paul Academy, St. Paul, Minn.
Customized Masonry Design
there, Charles Luckman & Associates used 11% million split-ribbed customized concrete masonry units for the massive exterior walls and specified the same exposed material for large expanses of interior walls.
Another noted architect, Paul Rudolph, FAIA, who pioneered in this design approach had this to say, "The inherent flexibility of customized concrete masonry has put a unique tool in our hands. The results already indicate that this material can be more meaningful in the total concept of building design. Concrete block is now out of the work-horse stage. Frank Lloyd Wright, and a few others, have used with imagination the great variety of concrete masonry wall units which the manufacturers have given us. Now the manufacturers make available to the architect a masonry wall material which will serve the usual skin function of the building and, in addition, present an interesting facade."
In describing his experience with this technique, Alfred Browning Parker, FAIA, commented, "Customized masonry permits a designer to create a unit that is unique for his work, hence he can control the richness of the wall through whatever scale or texture he desires. Obviously this encourages an original building."
How do builders, mason contractors and others in construction react to customized concrete masonry? Vincent Giordano of Giordano Construction Co., Branford, Conn., who built the Paul Rudolph-designed Crawford Manor in New Haven, said, "Customized concrete masonry proved itself throughout the entire construction to be economically sound and aesthetically pleasing. It enabled the architect to achieve a custom design finish without the high cost of precast panels. From a construction point of view, assuming the use of good craftsmen, laying-up of a customized masonry wall poses no problems," Giordano said.
Other attributes of customized concrete masonry are the wide range of colors for the units, the choice of aggregates, and the complementary color which can be selected for the mortar. Just as the facades of buildings can now be sculptured in the great tradition of stone, so too can they be designed in hues to meet the desires of the most particular designer and building owner. For example, natural sands and gravel will give the units an earthy look. Different aggregates and/or different natural cements or colors can be changed by pigments or by surface painting. Other techniques are also available to achieve a desired color.
For more details about customized concrete masonry. the International Masonry Institute will provide at no cost an illustrated brochure produced by the National Concrete Masonry Association. Write to: "Customized Masonry," IMI, 823 Fifteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.