From Mudpack to Synthetic Facelifts: Stucco and Its Cousins
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From Mudpack to Synthetic Facelifts: Stucco and Its Cousins Animal dung and acrylic are among the range of materials that have been used to clad a building's exterior. Using an exterior coating to improve a building's weathering ability and appearance, builders have employed mud, cement, and, most recently, polymer-based materials. Prehistoric structures are known to have been fashioned from brush, bones, grasses, dried clay, and sod. Rudimentary shelter was thereby achieved, but, in the inexorable desire for improved living standards, people sought greater protection from rain and wind and surer control of the indoor temperature. The application of mud and dung to the outer surface of a simple structure made it less permeable to the elements. Straw or other fibrous material could be mixed in to decrease drying time and provide a matrix of greater structural integrity. The use of coatings with a uniform appearance that are applied when wet and allowed to dry to a hard finish was well-known to the ancient Romans and is still common throughout the world. The compound that is commonly called "stucco" today is a cementitious mixture in which lime, clay or rock dust, aggregate (i.e., sand or small stones), and water are combined and worked while semi-liquid. The stucco is then smoothed over a substrate that possesses enough texture to prevent delamination of the finished surface: wood slats, brick, roughened concrete or stone, or a metal mesh are widely used. The mixture dries into a hard shell and provides a smooth, watertight surface which readily takes paint or other pigmentation. Stucco is brittle, however, and cracks can lead to leaks, chipping, and delamination of the surface. Cracking can be controlled by careful attention to the proportions of ingredients in the mix and conscientious craftsmanship when applying the wet stucco, but it remains the most challenging aspect of the material's use. The basic formula has hardly changed in the past two millenia. Stucco's ingredients occur worldwide: lime, which can be obtained by burning seashells or limestone; many varieties of aggregate; and water. Stucco is also more versatile than many other materials in that it can be used in a wide variety of climates. Constant moisture or dryness or cyclical
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changes in humidity and temperature affect cementitious stucco less than they affect wood, metals, or the more primitive coatings mentioned earlier. The Modernist building aesthetic that coalesced in Europe in the early 1900s and was adopted throughout the world by midcentury favored simple building forms with minimal adornment. A building's geometrical shape was the primary expressive vehicle, taking over the role traditionally played by ornamentation. Architects favored materials that allowed a building to appear as a cleanly executed form, and stucco proved an effective medium. The destruction wrought by World War II in Europe made the rapid rebuilding of cities an imperative. Stucco was well-suited both for resurfacing damaged buildings and for constructing new ones;
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