Natural Stone Council Shows Big at AIA

CHICAGO – The Natural Stone Council made its public debut in June here at the national convention and design exposition of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
The 2,500 ft² exhibit offered a full range of the stone experience to architects and specifiers during the three-day exhibition on June 10-12.
The exhibit offered nine sections on stone, each with a different theme. Two of the areas focused on landscape stone; one showed examples of stone working; another dealt with stone’s historical use. An entrance area featured marble flooring and smooth limestone columns.
The reception area included four counters, each topped with granite in different edge finishes. Another section offered limestone flooring and mock-ups of wall-anchoring systems; the final area offered seminars for architects for continuing-education credits.
The Natural Stone Council, formed in 2002, addresses issues and opportunities in the natural-stone industry, with a membership of the major stone associations as well as suppliers and individual stone companies. The Chicago AIA exhibit represented the first major outreach by the council to allied fields.
Others aiding in the effort were Ed Walsh of Sturgis Materials in Kansas City, Kan., for coordinating the contributed stone; Fred Becker of Becker and Becker Stone Co. in Dubuque, Iowa, for designing and fabricating the entrance colonnade; Jack Van Etten of Galloy and Van Etten in Chicago for coordinating the stone setters during the exhibit’s assembly and dismantling; and Pennie Sabel of the StonExpo Federation for overseeing the design and construction of the exhibit.
The council will be presenting another exhibit at the AIA’s exposition next year in Las Vegas, and is already raising funds for the project.