Stone: Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery

The relationship between humankind and stone is elemental and deeply ingrained in all of us. Stone, after all, has been the primary building material for more than five thousand years of human history, and it continues to record our triumphs and failures. In this searching history of the expressive and practical use of stone, Richard Rhodes unlocks the underlying principles of stone’s highest and best use, and he illuminates rules codified by the medieval freemason’s guild.

Century after century of stone use gradually produced the closely guarded Sacred Rules, as they are collectively known, considered tp be the most important property of the ancient stone guildsmen. Previously available only to the initiated, the rules are explained here for the first time ever, through historical examples and photographs. In our era of rapid development and expressive urbanization, Rhodes implores is to explore the essential qualities of stone that emerge from the Sacred Rules, not only to rediscover the ancient and traditional knowledge that governed the use of stone for so long but also to create a road map for hoe fitter generations might thoughtfully recapture the power this material offers.

Princeton Architectural Press

8 x 10, 272 Pages, Hardcover

174 Color Photographs from 29 Countries

ISBN 978-1-7972-3008-5, $50

Order the book, Stone, Ancient Practice to Modern Mastery

Stone Tour and Events

January 13, 7:00 PM, Elliot Bay Books

March 26, Seattle Chapter, Institute of Classical Architecture and Art

April 8, Women Painters of Washington

April 9, 3:30 PM, University of Washington. Public, as well as university, access held at the Alder Auditorium

April 19 – 25, Dundee Scotland. International Festival of Stone

June 3, 5:30 PM, New York City, Institute of Classical Architecture and Art

June 5-7, Dry Stone Wallers of Canada, Port Hope, Ontario

Past Tour and Event Dates

June 11, book available in stores

June 11, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM, SF AIA: Center for Architecture and Design, San Francisco

June 14, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM,  Tenino Stone Carver’s Guild: Tenino Stone Shed

June 17, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Seattle AIA, Center for Architecture and Design

June 25, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM, Seattle: Town Hall

June 26, 6:00 PM – 8:30, Private Party, Book Photo Exhibition, Domicile Gallery

June 27, 6:00 PM – 8:30, Public Opening, Book Photo Exhibition, Domicile Gallery  – Show runs through July 5^th

October 9, 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM, CSI Pudget Sound Chapter October Chapter Meeting

November 6, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM, St. Petersburg, Florida The Dali Museum

Endorsements for Stone

“What Michael Pollan did for food, Richard Rhodes has achieved, brilliantly, for the sorely of stone: a vivid, thrilling journey through a world where nature meets intelligence, Stone unspools a history that ranges across the world and through time into fascinating secrets of art and architecture. The passion and clarity in this book will appeal to anyone who has wondered about what endures- and why”

– Evan Osnos, Winner of the National Book Award, author of Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury

“Richard Rhodes’ Stone is a magisterial work which makes a lasting contribution to so many disciplines:  sculpting, architecture, history of ideas, psychology, minerology, and many others.  A working artist, Rhodes is also a student of human culture, and a commentor on the
values implicit in the structures we build for ourselves.”

– James Hollis, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst and author, most recently of Living Between Worlds: Finding Resilience in Challenging Times. 

“Rhodes succeeds in articulating both his extraordinary knowledge of the subject while embroidering it with deep philosophical and poetic insights.  He weaves in instructive narratives from his apprenticeship and professional practice with great humility, illustrating how he learned from these occasionally tough experiences.  Most art historians like me as well as committed cultural tourists who take an active interest in the environments through which they wander while on vacation would find their visual experience immeasurably enhanced by having read this book.  The extraordinary breadth of geographical locations the book offers to illustrate specific examples of masonry and architecture — whether urban or rustic, ancient or relatively recent, secular or sacred — vastly expands the book’s appeal. With uncommon erudition, Rhodes
shares his deeply humanistic philosophy and strikes a judicious balance between addressing both the professional and the much-vaunted “general reader”. I am that reader and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

– Dr. Tom Flynn FRSA, is a London-based art historian, sculpture critic, and author. His best-known book, The Body in Three Dimensions, has been widely translated.

“Richard Rhodes’s book on stone is at once encyclopedic and poetic. Richard literally circles the globe and travels through the ages to find the stones that are most expressive of the human soul.  As he makes clear in these chapters, building stone is not just material — it is a living thing that can, if properly appreciated and respected, both shelter and inspire.  I learned something new on every page, even about subjects like ancient Roman roads and Puglian trulli that I thought I knew a lot about.  The writing is always engaging and the photos alone constitute a fascinating art/architectural history course.  I have come to look at stone buildings, roads, arches, walls and bridges in a whole new light thanks to Richard’s guidance.  This book truly reflects a lifetime of knowledge, travel, meditation, and hands-on experience with the hardest,
most enduring, most expressive materials our planet affords.”

– David Laskin,author of a number of award-winning nonfiction books, including The Children’s Blizzard and The Family.  He writes frequently about Italy for the New York Times.  His first novel, What Sammy Knew, was published in March 2021.

“Richard Rhodes’ Stone: Expression and Use in the Built Environment provides an intriguing perspective on a foundational material from a master builder and sculptor. This rigorously researched, thoughtfully assembled study of stone in architecture across the globe and throughout time seeks to reconnect modern readers to the ancient practice of stonework, guided by tradition and a deep understanding that goes far beyond aesthetics and ornamentation. I have always believed that the best work results from this kind of reciprocal relationship with craft and materiality; here, Rhodes brings his critical eye and wealth of experience to an examination of the artistry and essential qualities of stonework, as well as its widespread impact on our collective culture and values – and our collective legacy.”

– Tom Kundig, principal, Olson Kundig. Tom has received some of the world’s highest design honors, including a National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt
Smithsonian Design Museum, an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and an election to the National Academy as an Academician
in Architecture.

“Richard Rhodes is for Stone what Jefferey Kripal is for consciousness.”
– Michael Lerner, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Co-Founder of Commonweal

“If you want to know more about these diverse uses and applications of stone in sculpture and architecture, look no further than Richard Rhodes’s new book — STONE: Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery…an absorbing and beautifully written paean to a primal material, its history and uses over time. Illustrated with an abundance of colour plates and a helpful glossary of terms, you’ll never look at stone in the same way again.” 

– Dr. Tom Flynn FRSA, is a London-based art historian, sculpture critic, and author. His best-known book, The Body in Three Dimensions, has been widely translated. Review posted to Substack.com

Reviews & Praise for ‘Stone’

AFAR

Publishers Weekly Picks

Authors

Richard Rhodes is a stone sculptor with a wide-ranging international practice including public art and private commissions. As a scholar of stonework world-wide, Rhodes’ book, Stone: Ancient Practice to Modern Mastery was published in June 2025 by Princeton Architectural Press.  Rhodes was Awarded the Burges Visiting Professorship for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 2025-26.  Richard apprenticed as a stonemason in Siena, Italy after graduate studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As the first non-Italian admitted into Siena’s ancient masonic guild in 726 years, he is known throughout the sculpture and stone community as the “last apprentice.”  Though now branching into other media such as cast bronze, Rhodes credits his guild training as the major influence in his sculptural practice. Rhodes is the founder of several businesses, including Rhodesworks Design Studio, Rhodes Masonry, and Rhodes Architectural Stone. He lives in Seattle.

Paul Goldberger (Foreword), is a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair and previously held posts at The New Yorker and The New York Times, where he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.