Impact of subtropical island climate on the appearance and aesthetics of white marble buildings

Abstract

Apart from architectural design, the application of suitable materials for the building façade is an indispensable element in architectural aesthetics. Here, we focus on the issue of changes in the appearance of white marble architecture with geographical environment and climate changes around the world by considering the durability of the façade material with time. In terms of architectural aesthetics, using natural marble for finishing a building façade appears beautiful and elegant, but it is worth studying whether it is suitable for an island country that constantly has abundant rain and even acid rain. To address this, we present a design using white marble as a building façade to observe whether it is affected by a subtropical climate. In addition to compositional analysis of the material, we build a building façade with a height of 5.68 m and a width of 8.8 m to test changes in strength and surface cleanliness of natural marbles after exposure to sunlight and rain over the course of two years. Based on the study results for marbles in environments with abundant rain and acid rain, the results of compressive tests show that there is no reduction in mechanical properties, which indicates that the compressive strength of the stone is unaffected. However, after exposure to sunlight and rain for merely six months, there are already stains and pores in the exteriors of the marbles. Therefore, although the applicability of marble as a building façade on islands with abundant rain and acid rain is good, future applications should take the surface cleanliness of similar natural stone materials into careful consideration.