Stone

For 30 years, a team of skilled artisans has been recreating a medieval castle in Central France—using only materials, tools, and techniques that were available in the 13th century.

For the team behind Wowhaus Studio, great public art isn’t just about design; it’s about creating purpose, meaning, and joy. They apply this philosophy in their daily lives, too—and so can you.

India’s communities of specialized artisans—who are often the knowledge-keepers of their centuries-old craft traditions—face an uncertain future.

This 5-minute mini-documentary, produced by anthropologist Trevor Marchand, captures a unique and very old building technique with handmade masonry that was perfected through generations in Djenne, Mali.

A Dutch archaeologist finds artisans and thought leaders who are redefining craft, skill and, ultimately, the real meaning of a knowledge economy. A Craftsmanship mini-documentary.

As automation spreads, even into the world of fine art, an American sculptor proudly holds the barricades with the tools, techniques, and even the marble source used centuries ago by Michelangelo. Which side will prevail?

The National Sculpture Society’s executive director, Gwen Pier, has found that Fred Brownstein—the marble sculptor profiled in our Winter 2023 feature, “The Sculptor vs. The Robots“—is being joined by more and more sculptors who love doing figurative work. “There has been a swing back,” she says. In the 1950s, there was a rebellion against figurative…

If Fred Brownstein were to dig down in his backyard, he would likely strike marble in very short order; numerous veins of marble run down the western side of the Vermont’s Green Mountains, where he and I both live. In fact, the country’s first marble quarry opened in my hometown of Dorset, in 1785, followed…

In a tiny town on Italy’s Northeastern coast, the Marchi family printworks may be the world’s last shop to produce handmade, rust-printed textiles from raw hemp, using a massive stone press dating to the 1600s.