Richard Rhodes, STONE: ANCIENT CRAFT TO MODERN MASTERY

Seattle-based sculptor, stonemason, and scholar of stonework Richard Rhodes joins us in store for a discussion of his book Stone: Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery. In this perceptive and illustrative look at the expressive and practical use of stone throughout history, Rhodes unlocks the underlying principles of this ancient material—and explains the closely guarded “Sacred Rules” of the Freemasons guild for the first time ever.

The relationship between mankind and stone is elemental and deeply ingrained into all of us. Stone, after all, has been the primary building material for more than five thousand years of human history, and it continues to record our triumphs and failures. In this searching history of the expressive and practical use of stone, Richard Rhodes unlocks the underlying principles of stone;s highest and best use, and he illuminates rules codified by the medieval Freemason's guild.

Century after century of stone use gradually produced the closely-guarded Sacred Rules as they are collectively known, considered to be the most important and closely-kept property of the ancient stone guildsmen. Previously available only to the initiated, the rules are explained here through historical examples and photographs for the first time ever. In these times of rapid development and expansive urbanization, Rhodes implores us to explore the essential qualities of stone that emerge from the Sacred Rules, not only to rediscover the ancient and traditional knowledge that governed its use for so long, but also to find a roadmap for how future generations might thoughtfully recapture the power this material offers.

Richard Rhodes is a stone sculptor with a wide-ranging international practice including public art and private commissions. As a scholar of stonework world-wide, Rhodes’ book, Stone: Ancient Practice to Modern Mastery was published in June 2025 by Princeton Architectural Press. Rhodes was Awarded the Burges Visiting Professorship for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 2025-26. Richard apprenticed as a stonemason in Siena, Italy after graduate studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As the first non-Italian admitted into Siena’s ancient masonic guild in 726 years, he is known throughout the sculpture and stone community as the “last apprentice.” Though now branching into other media such as cast bronze, Rhodes credits his guild training as the major influence in his sculptural practice. Rhodes is the founder of several businesses, including Rhodesworks Design Studio, Rhodes Masonry, and Rhodes Architectural Stone. He lives in Seattle.