We all know Carrara marble — Michelangelo’s marble — the most famous stone in the world. In the 1970s, Standard Oil decided to make a statement: they built the tallest marble-clad skyscraper in the world, right in Chicago. But there was one problem… Carrara marble weathers beautifully in Italy’s mild climate — not so much in Chicago’s freeze-thaw cycles. Within a few years, the marble panels began to warp, bow, and even fall from the building. Hundreds of tons of marble had to be removed and rep