Formstone!

For this week’s event analysis, I attended the Charm City Cinema at the Andrew White Student Center. The event was supposed to consist of two short films titled “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” and “Little Castles.” Unfortunately, the second movie was not viewed due to technical difficulties. Despite this setback, I was still able to gain something and take meaning from this event.

The film that I was successfully able to view was titled “Little Castles.” This film mainly discussed the architectural phenomenon that surrounds the city of Baltimore known as “formstone.” Formstone is the technique of shaping a plaster compound on a wall to make it appear as separate layered stones or rocks. Often, it is used as a permanent alternative to the continuous and sometimes annoying hassle of having to repaint walls. Also, this method is mostly used on row-homes made with brick fronts. Nails hold chicken-wire against the brick which then provides an ideal surface for the formstone to bond.

Formstone is most commonly associated with the city of Baltimore and its’ surrounding counties. For over 50 years this technique of architecture has been used in the city. “Little Castles” offered a variety of perspectives from the inhabitants of the city. There was a clear split in opinion with people in or not in favor for the use of formstone. To my belief, it seemed that people that were relatively new to the city found this type of wall to be despicable. In the other respect, people that have been living in the city for some time seemed to have developed affection for the formstone. And of course, there are always people who have neutral feelings. They are the ones who are not quite fans of the walling, but also they would not be willing to pay to have it removed.

The director of the film and also Baltimore native John Waters described formstone as “the polyester of brick.” However, he has since grown to both accept and love it in its own way. In a similar way, I share the same experience with the director. My brother lived in Baltimore for two years and I was a frequent visitor. When I first became acquainted with the formstone which was on the front of his residence, I thought it to be very foreign and strange. However as time progressed, I noticed that much of the city was covered in it and I began learning to love it.

Since formstone has been associated with the city of Baltimore for a good amount of time now, it would be a shame to see it disappear. It has since developed into one of the several important symbols that represent the city. When I think of Baltimore, I think of the Orioles, the harbor, and even the traditional painted screens that I have recently learned about. Now after seeing this short film, I will now include formstone when thinking about my vision of Baltimore.