Material Matters

Stone was humanity’s earliest building companion, chosen for its permanence and strength. In ancient villages, stone walls provided insulation, keeping interiors cool in hot summers and warm during cold winters. The Pyramids of Giza, built around 4,500 years ago, required nearly 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite, some weighing as much as 80 tons. Their survival through thousands of years witnesses the durability of stone. Similarly, in Europe, Gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris, constructed from limestone, heavy timber, slate, and marble, rise like eternal monuments, their walls thick enough to withstand centuries of weather and even fire damage. Even today, natural stone remains prized in construction for its low maintenance and timeless character, used in everything from retaining walls to polished granite countertops. If you could build a structure that lasts 1,000 years, what would it be? Imagine a cave dwelling, a stone house, a civic building, or a cathedral built of stone today.

If stone embodied permanence, adobe represented accessibility and adaptability. Made from a mixture of clay, sand, and straw, adobe bricks could be produced by almost anyone with access to soil and water. This made it the building material of choice in regions from North Africa to the American Southwest. Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years, remains a striking example of adobe’s endurance. What makes Adobe fascinating is its sustainability. Thick adobe walls regulate temperature naturally: they absorb heat during the day and release it at night, reducing the need for artificial heating or cooling. Studies have shown that adobe buildings can reduce energy use for climate control by up to 50% compared to lightweight modern constructions. Even in the 21st century, architects experimenting with eco-friendly design are revisiting adobe for its low carbon footprint and its ability to reconnect human living with the earth itself.

Could using materials like Adobe make your home more comfortable and eco-friendly?

Wood is not only a building material. It is also a symbol of life. In Japan, timber has been central to construction for centuries, with temples such as Hōryū-ji, built in the 7th century, still standing today. Its survival demonstrates wood’s resilience when properly treated and maintained. In Scandinavia, stave churches built in the Middle Ages remain as some of the world’s oldest wooden structures, blending craftsmanship with cultural identity. Wood’s versatility and renewability make it a global favorite. In North America, the rapid growth of cities in the 19th century was possible because of forests providing timber for frame houses. Balloon framing offered affordable and accessible construction for expanding populations. Today, wood continues to evolve: engineered timber products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) are enabling high-rise buildings, some exceeding 20 stories, while storing carbon instead of emitting it. A cubic meter of wood can store nearly one ton of carbon dioxide, turning timber construction into a tool for climate action.

How could incorporating wood into your space add warmth, character, and or sustainability? Find buildings in your community that are made of wood and share some pictures in the gallery!

The Industrial Revolution fundamentally transformed architecture and engineering. For the first time, cast iron, then steel, and then aluminum evolved during the age of metals and diversified with mass production. The Coalbrookdale Cast Iron Bridge, now a UNESCO Heritage Site, was the first cast-iron bridge, built between 1777 and 1781, to cross a 100-meter river gorge in England. This pioneering structure was a significant innovation that demonstrated the versatility of cast iron and ushered in a new era of industrial-age bridge building. The Bessemer process that followed in 1851-1856 initiated the manufacturing of steel, an alloy of iron and carbon, that is elastic, strong, and fracture resilient, with high yield strength. Steel’s low material cost makes it one of the most manufactured materials in the world. Today, steel is used to build tools, bicycles, cars, trucks, ships, trains, airplanes, and structures, small and large. Early use of glass is found in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and Venice became the glass-blowing center during the early Renaissance. The invention of the Float Glass process in the 20th century led to the structural glass system of large windows in tall buildings. Large sheets of glass entered the scene, shifting the scale and style of construction that stone and wood had limited, and steel, aluminum, and structural glass created possibilities that seemed limitless.

Which modern material, steel, aluminum, or glass, would you choose? Design a building for your community and label the materials you use.

Steel became the backbone of the modern skyline. The first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago (1885), rose just 10 stories but marked the beginning of vertical urban life. Today, steel allows towers like the Burj Khalifa in Dubaisoaring 828 meters high, to exist at all. Its strength-to-weight ratio is unmatched: steel is about 25 times stronger than wood in tension, yet far lighter than stone, making it ideal for spanning great distances without massive supports. Steel also reshaped culture. Think of the Eiffel Tower (1889), once dismissed as a “useless monstrosity,” now one of the most visited monuments in the world. Its lattice of 18,038 wrought-iron pieces (a precursor to modern structural steel) symbolized not only French engineering but also a new age of lightness and openness.

If you could build a skyscraper, what purpose would it serve for your community?

Although discovered earlier, aluminum only became a practical building material in the 20th century once cheap production methods were developed. By weight, aluminum is about one-third as dense as steel, making it ideal for curtain walls, roofing, and window frames. The Empire State Building, completed in 1931, used aluminum extensively in its interior finishes, highlighting its modern appeal. Today, aluminum remains critical to sustainable construction. It is infinitely recyclable: nearly 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use. Its use in energy-efficient window systems and cladding continues to make it essential to modern architecture.

How might lightweight materials like aluminum make everyday life easier or more creative?

If steel enabled height, glass brought transparency. The Crystal Palace in London (1851), with its 300,000 glass panes, astonished visitors with its openness and natural light. This was the first large-scale use of cast-plate glass, and it set the stage for modern glass façades. By the mid-20th century, glass had become synonymous with modernity. Skyscrapers like New York’s Lever House (1952) used glass curtain walls to redefine corporate architecture. Today, innovations such as double- and triple-glazed panels, low-emissivity coatings, and smart glass that can adjust transparency are turning glass into not just an aesthetic choice but also an energy-saving technology.

How would you use glass to make your home or workspace feel brighter, more open, and more energy efficient?

Concrete, a mixture of cement, water, sand, and gravel, became the world’s most widely used building material in the 20th century. The Romans first pioneered it, allowing structures like the Pantheon in Rome, with its unreinforced concrete dome still standing after nearly 2,000 years, to inspire architects for centuries. But it was the invention of reinforced concrete in the late 19th century that truly revolutionized construction.

With the ability to be poured into any shape, concrete gave rise to expressive forms, from Le Corbusier’s sculptural churches to Zaha Hadid’s fluid, futuristic designs. It could be massive and heavy, yet also light and curved. Today, concrete accounts for about 70% of the world’s building material by volume, though it also contributes to high carbon emissions, driving new research into low-carbon and even carbon-absorbing alternatives.

If you could design a structure out of concrete, would you make it monumental, functional, or experimental in form?

Materials are considered renewable when the earth naturally reproduces them; non-renewable matter is material that cannot be replaced but can be recycled. Materials are organic or inorganic. Organic materials are those materials that come from plants or animals. Inorganic materials are those that do not naturally grow and reproduce. Materials can also be biodegradable (able to decompose) or non-biodegradable. Toxic materials are poisonous. To save the endangered beauty from earthly dangers, you must erect a refuge of ideas that will foil the plans of Humanity. Your creative science will aid you in your exploration of the wonders of materials: organic, rock, hybrid, synthetic, and metal. Look around. How many different materials do you see? Where did the materials come from? What energy was needed to put them into their form? Where will they go? How long will they last? All materials have characteristics: size, shape, color, texture, hardness, strength, life expectancy, and lifecycle.

Many professionals work with materials. Some work in factories to make the materials. There are manufacturers and fabricators of stone, masonry, glass, wood, plastic, steel, fiber, textiles, and many other types of materials. Material representatives or material ‘reps’ market and sell the materials to architects, designers, contractors, showrooms, and other businesses. Some professionals manage showrooms of many materials. Designers design with materials for clients. Many designers create mood boards to share material choices with clients. Architects plan buildings and interiors for people. Interior Designers furnish and finish spaces with materials. Search online for material representatives or contractors in your local area. Invite them into your classroom to discuss how they learn about new materials and utilize existing ones. Study their company and prepare a list of questions in advance of their visit. Take photos of your meeting with the professional and post them to the gallery.

• Why are certain materials used in certain places?
  • climate
  • availability
  • cost
  • all of the above
• Which one is an inorganic material?
  • mud
  • wood
  • brick
  • plastic
• Which one is an organic material?
  • carpet
  • glass
  • metal
  • wood
• Which material is usually cold to the touch?
  • carpet
  • stone
  • wood
  • metal
• Which material isn't flexible?
  • plastic
  • sticks
  • marble
  • wire