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James Taite

@jamestaite.bsky.social
2.7K followers 2.1K following 1.9K posts

Stonemason in Ottawa, Canada.

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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Abrevoir speaks of function and method; distinct from this is commissure, an idea of the joint as an abstract relation of parts. Cotgrave’s 1650 dictionary likens it to a “seame in a bone”, The Builders Magazine of 1800 describes it as “the application of the one [stone] to that of the other.”
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Tom Grey @tomgrey.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Architects in Wonderland Decades ago James Marston Fitch argued that the reuse of existing buildings should be prioritized over the construction of new ones. His thesis, at once simple and radical, is more relevant than ever. placesjournal.org/article/arch...
placesjournal.org
Architects in Wonderland
Decades ago, James Marston Fitch argued that reuse of existing buildings should be prioritized over new construction. His thesis is more relevant than ever.
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Fiona McLees @mclees-fiona.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“In fact, the lamp-lighted table is a little world in itself, and a dreamer-philosopher may well fear lest our indirect lighting cause us to lose the center of the evening room.” (Bachelard, The Poetics of Space) Dorelia by Lamplight at Toulouse, Gwen John, 1903-4 (Private collection)
A painting by Gwen John, showing a young woman seated at a table, looking down at an open book in front of her. Her face is strongly lit, throwing shadows onto the dark wall behind her. A narrow window shows dusk outside.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The use of 'water joint' (here, from the 1887 American Glossary of Architectural Terms) as a term to describe any joint in masonry makes explicit this idea of the interstice between stones as a wet place. It understands building with stone as a practice, the joint as a functional element.
Water Joint. The joint between stone.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
St Clement-Danes?
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Writing our Destiny aka Andrew @planecrazy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Can you imagine what it was like to do this before modern power tools and scaffolding? Impressive regardless of the time and tools. @jamestaite.bsky.social youtube.com/shorts/2sDYi...
youtube.com
#stonemason
YouTube video by Natalie Gee
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Ruth Siddall @pavementgeology.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
If you want to find out how minerals can be transformed into pigments and paints, look no further than my upcoming Night School @geolsoc.bsky.social on 2 November 2026. More info, fees and registration details are at www.geolsoc.org.uk/events/an-in... #pigments #mineralpigments
A poster for the course showing a photo of red, yellow and blue paints on a stone slab and the text Geological Society of London
NIGHT SCHOOL, 02 Nov 2026, online / 18.00-20.00, An Introduction to Mineral Pigments & Paints, Dr Ruth Siddall
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docomomoscot.bsky.social @docomomoscot.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Fancy seeing what Soviet architecture in Tadzhikistan & Uzbekistan looked like in the 1980s? Join us in ABERDEEN & ONLINE on 22 October for Central Asian travel impressions by councillor & former Lord Provost Barney Crockett Tickets tickettailor.com/events/docomomoscotland #aberdeen #centralasia
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Vital to thoroughly wet the joints before putting a frontpoint mortar in an already built wall. Water is pulled out of the mortar and into the drier stone. The longer the water is retained in the mortar, the longer the chemical process of hydration is sustained, the better the result.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Water should move through the joints, not the stone. The worst deterioration often takes place not where water enters into or travels through, but where water leaves a wall, enabling frost-jacking or depositing cryptoflorescence. A good wall will dry through its joints, which can be repointed.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Abbreuvoir, Abrevoir, a nice old name for the joint between stones. A watering place for horses, like a trough? also with the connotation of wound. First is Cotgrave’s French-English Dictionary of 1650, second The Builder's Dictionary of 1734
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
happy to find out that the Government of Canada has a webpage advising the proper spelling of whisky
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
ever wonder if those yeast bubbling in that tub of mash have yeast-scientists get up in their face with “stop fermenting you’re rendering our world unliveable” and the ethanol deniers are just “calm down don’t worry it’s all a hoax” and go back to counting their Big Whisky money
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Nepean sandstone, Berea sandstone, Malone sandstone, St. George granite, Stanstead granite you’ve got just about every stone used on the exterior of the West Block here in one pic talk about critical minerals
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Winnipeg www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Massive artwork aims to turn historic Winnipeg building into display of Métis resilience | CBC News
The artist behind a massive design that will soon be a key feature of an iconic Winnipeg facade says she's making a statement about Métis resilience.
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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Compositional Study for tâpwêwin (Truth) Kent Monkman ~ Cree 2025
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Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The new Axis of Evil. It's just Canada.
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Neil Flanagan 🧱🗃️ @jgbollard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Not only should engineers study history, more historians should study engineering. Concrete is the second most used material on earth, a huge part of every economy, but there are about 10 english language academic histories of it. Is it really less important than another take on Lincoln? 🗃️
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Bruno Tonelli @brunotonelli.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I have added some more accounts to my Starter Pack on Architecture and The Built Environment, among which @kristoncapps.bsky.social and other people. Please take a look: bsky.app/starter-pack...
bsky.app
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
horizons
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
*owl
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Scaffolders are the unsung heros, no credit, none of their work lasts longer than the job. Did a fair bit when I was younger, up over roofs to get at chimneys etc. On a big job like this it belongs to the carpenters union, and I’m okay with that!
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
wol
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Hah!
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You assume that I‘m not constantly doing those things!
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
view from the office
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Dr Tim Meek @limefinishes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Cromarty on Wednesday; we harled this in 1999 & the owners have kept on top of maintenance, espc the Crowsteps. We looked at the archaeology of harl, thickness, detailing and galetting,& how it folded over the details. Nothing fancy or imaginative, just looking at precedent. Seamless architecture.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Lutyens sighting
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
look Neil it was either extend the baseboard or add more gilt so
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Those inclined bed joints on the corbels are something… what happens above this?
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Mark Walters @mark-walters.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I passed this 1930’s church on Bull Bay Road in Amlwch a few times and just had to take a look. This is the Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea & St Winefride. It was designed by an Italian architect to look like the upturned hull of a boat reflecting Amlwch’s maritime history.
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Mémoire2cité @memoire2cite.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Architecture moderne, l'Église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc de Rouen, son architecte, Louis Arretche, a voulu renouer avec la tradition de beaucoup de vieilles églises normandes en donnant à l'édifice la forme d'un bateau renversé ... Inscrit Monument Historique.
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Theodore Grunewald @tedgrunewald.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Stone is nature's precast." —Malcolm Holzman
Building with stone and buildings in stone by award-winning U.S. practitioner Malcolm Holzman (b. 1940) are featured in this pictorial album, first published last year in Australia. Holzman, a founder of Hardy Holzman Pfieffer Associates and architect of the acclaimed San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, TX, and the Highland House (Madison, WI), recounts his clarity of vision and passion for stone construction in a concise, jargon-free accompanying text. An appendix lists 17 projects (including public libraries, performing arts centers, museums, and municipal and university commissions), along with construction and engineering details, elevations, and site plans; a biography notes that Holzman's buildings appear in 25 states and that he prefers local quarries whenever possible. Unfortunately, dates are not given for the buildings on display; equally bewildering is the absence of an index or a bibliography of the mostly positive literature regarding Holzman's projects. These flaws aside, the book works well: the photos are evocative, and there's much of interest to both architects and stone masons. https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Stone-Work-Designing-Holzman-Malcolm-Images/8026950017/bd#:~:text=Synopsis,and%20pleasing%20to%20the%20soul.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
it’s being done already, and still at a fraction of the embodied carbon of concrete or even steel frame www.thestonemasonrycompany.co.uk/augmented-st...
thestonemasonrycompany.co.uk
Specialist Stone Work — The Stonemasonry Company Ltd
We don't just create breathtaking stone staircases. We can also help with any stone project that may need a high-quality finish executed by an expert team.
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Neil Flanagan 🧱🗃️ @jgbollard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The difference between building and architecture is that in architecture, the window is in the wrong place.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
😳
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
get in loser we’re building with structural stone again another banger from @amintaha.bsky.social and Groupwork observer.co.uk/culture/arch...
observer.co.uk
This wobbly-looking high-rise Stonehenge is the future
Built from three-tonne slabs of load-bearing rock, a new London apartment block makes a dramatic case for a greener alternative to concrete, balancing scale and sophistication with sheer chutzpah
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I really don’t think it has to be one or the other… any process of refinement has a back and forth between competing concerns, sometimes they reinforce each other sometimes they conflict. No reason it can’t be ”this works AND it improves appearance.”
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
True!
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Lol
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I’m not sure it’s either/or
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Fair bit of labour and craft in making something so artificial though! It wasn’t a cheap cover-up!
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
no real difference in principle to lining render with false joints
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
the mortared surfaces are the reveals of the entry to the church, so not likely more weathered than the facade. I wonder if it was built with rougher work because meant to receive wood casing, and when that casing was removed the decision was made to 'clean' it up.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Lefthand is stone, righthand is a mimicking of stone in mortar
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
St. John's
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
jointed bedrock of Nepean sandstone at the old Bishop's quarry
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
St. John’s Presbyterian, Almonte, 1865
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Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A fascinating streetscape. This is Elbląg (Poland) where post-war reconstruction of its Old Town didn’t really begin until the late 1970s. It was inspired by the historical architecture, and built on the original street grid and building footprints, but with a very distinctive post-modernist style.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions
Study challenges belief that temple’s curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean lines
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