CONTENTS INTRODUCTION STRENGTH FORM TEXTURE uTILity DexL FOREWORD Cancete is a vey capable material, and itis specacualy ‘natant in arcitecture, Though loved by architects, what was done in Bitainin the 19605 has put the public of and ithas since needed new champions to restore It to favour Many architects tare ep thei heads down, ahways speaking up fr great con ‘te projects suchas The National Theatre and The Barbican in Leno, bt wary about working nthe material on a similar cle ut alot of 1960s precast concrete buns were noxious inh — manintttue, and carelessly disregarded human needs for tex- ‘we ard scl. A sample of concrete when it appear inthe archi ‘ec ofce can look intersting and charming, but quite scary You seit on a masive scale Teli planners you want to buildin concrete stil scares them. cant deny that tained concrete i very nasty inded, andi or ist comrecitcan be very risky. use concrete in its formed, precast state for scuiptural deals such a5 spl and | crany prefer concrete for famed bulings But probably have ult enough, oon alrge enough in concrete, so fel quite gulty about it as a construction Feihaps tees a lack of courage in Bian; we need the nce andthe contractors to buld in concrete in the way do in Europe, particularly France, where it is thei Jf choice. n France you can pick up a modular shuttering any ules’ merchant Pehapsit is aso because ofthe concete works better ther, afte all concrete France jam France There are actualy some good concrete Bian, even on our motorways, but concrete stil looks the ous, in Mediterranean counties sul concrete project in the UK, howeve is the ecersion ofthe London Underground system, where Concrete was used to create one of the mast important architec- tural projects in the county. The marvellous massive interiors evoke the sense of being outdoors. The use of cancrete in interiors isa fashion trend, but a very rice one as concrete is an emotional material and extremely ‘expressive. It can be as smooth as a cashmere jacket or as rough as hell. Concrete is undoubtedly respectable as an architectural material and i very sensual But concrete hasan uly side, which, perversely is another reason why architects like it In the UK at the tum of the 21st century, there persists a kind of "bunker"Atke design mentality and, although some atcitects ate stil thrled by bunker buildings, I'm not, This approach isn't seen in North or South America, where freedom and freshness has been celebrated, creating some of the most sensuous concrete buildings in the word, such as the work ‘of Eero Saarineen and Oscar Niemeyer. In South America, concrete is sexy, like the culture, In Britain and Northern Europe, the material Is intellectual but cold. | like the work of Santiago Calatrava; his concrete undercrofts of ralway stations such as LUsbon are delicious and magnificent. He is redressing the balance, reacting against a time when every bridge was a box I also love the work of architects such as Will Bruder who pro- duces “get off on this" concrete architecture, big and bold lke the cowboy country where he practices. There they thnk big. And ofcourse, John Lautner is the king, He understood that concrete {s sloppy, you should let it go, Don't make it vertical and straight ‘and don't attempt to constrain its possibilities. Why make con- crete imitate other materials? Let the material speak about its pautheow Pantheon, Roe (AD 127), tai of thet: wight conte dome in which asd pumice was ‘sed 35a garetts oo the ew bugs to suit intact afte te ds of he Roman Empire With adams of oe 43 mets (4 fue tis testament ta the dab of conte (ont the skit Roman engineer) an asthe largest dame inthe worl nti the 2h cena PRoPwer sanvet he Pt Smut ny 150). Oe a the ‘atest examples oa conrete statute tought tahoe been mae by ames Asp, the eld on ofthe inventor of Pot cement apparent is that the fll potential of concrete has yet tobe realized, and that some ofthe techniques developed in the 1960s and 70s Predominantly for exterior use, have now been lost, leaving only an apparently limited, contemporary repertoire of possiblities open to the architect and designe. The importance of concrete in the evolution of architectural history is obvious to the architectural profession ~ to such an extent that it barely warrants a mention in theit writings. Architects who have been on pilgrimages to Marseilles to visit Le Corbusier’ famous Unité d'Habitation; who admire the work of Tadao Ando, Lou's Kahn, or Calo Scarpa, accept the material as the basic component of contemporary architecture. But it is @ younger generation of architects who ate laoking atthe work of the 19605 and 70s with fresh eyes and some distance, and these are the designers who are really pushing at the boundaries of design in concreteTo design fete fs to understand the material structural point of views And those archite understand it, and experiment with it, work closely with engine 10 develop their designs tis no surprise, then, that some of the most starting, if not architecturally coherent, projects h: produced either by architects and designers with an engineering background, such as Santiago Calatrava, Pier Luigi Neri, and Felix Candela - or those wh admire their work, such as Oscar Niemeye and $e. Designers of funiture, hamewares, and y, often it 's particularly noticeable in their attitude ard concrete, Many far moe directly and intimate 15 engage withthe mat ale work material nthe hands of ing cutent lifestyle that architecture, with its long tem view and timescales, often cannot, Hence, his book is intended to show bo the breadth and te design, useful for the g that concrete is a sensuous, and respected In Monty Python's film, cife of 8 reader who may stil ned com high quality material to be John Cleese asks his assembled re ve the Romans ever done for us?" The ing they forgot to include in the rather long list ments that followed, was the invention of concrete; the Romans’ greatest architectural legacy”, according tothe architectural his torian Sir John Summerson. There is to suggest that eater cultures, including concrete Butit was inthe second century BC thatthe Romans quar: tie tly, Initially pink, sand-like material from mistaken for sand, this fine, volcanic = aZLeY- WHITE HOUSE st al- coca house in Swanson eat (1855, P ly menting sbi ot once — wal ties, wind anes, 8 nthe garden games,Aira hangar tort, tay (1939 he pzast ame, shown lore the erection he aden,» shining sulptural feat ty he reat alan areitetenginer Piet New. Neti was major influence tucitects euch a ohn Lautner and hing ost Nevin tly. He made possible he min impasile expressive forms fr wish ee aches ar so renowned = rensvin poo. Caml petums adobe el. The Pou Plt andn 2o, UK (1934 by Beeld et uo 182 estbishs the arabe: ua pase etn Ono the bt ed rt ulings inthe UK. Oven it beaut Matin ad demonstrated ne escorted menteThe existence of reinforced concréte has been documented from carly as 1830, and throughout the 19th centuy it as known by many names, including fero-concrete In 1848, a French lawyes, Jean-Louis Lambe first reinforced concrete boat, He plastered a built the words + of fine concrete ‘oF mortar over a network of iron rods and mesh to produce ferro engineer Joseph, Monier made plant tubs of reinforced concrete, and fellow engineer Frangois Coignet developed a special technique for encasing an ion skeleton Wiliam Wikinsoo, @ Newcastl-based builder, applied for 2 patent in 1854; the builder stated tha the use af second-han cally rope could be embedded in fresh concrete, the ends formed into loops, or splayed by opening out the strands and twiting them in afferent directions, so that the rope could not be drawn out when the concrete was under load, Significantly, tis appears to be the fist time that reinforced concret cement. The following year, the Fre ork in concrete. as considered a5 a composite structure, as opposed to metalwork simply encased in concrete. Not much seems to have come ofthis until Francois Hennebique and his company, Hennebique & Le Brun, developed 2 spstem of reinforcement. in 1898, he created the fist multistorey, reinforced concrete-ramed building in Britain ~ the Weavers’ Mill in Swansea His system was succesful and became vay popula. In 1901 it was used to build the fst reinforced concrete bridge at CChewion Glen in the New Forest in Britain. Within ten yeas, around 40,000 diferent structures had been constructed using Hennebique's system, Robert Mallat, 2 Swiss engineer and pupil of Hennebiqu, was influential in the fel, due to his construction of the fist cor shell roof atthe Gare de Bercy in Paris, in 1910. Further develo: et, who, seven years later, discovered the value of mechanical vibration for ments were made by another Frenchman, Eugéne Freyssi compacting concrete, and who pioneered the sytem of prestess ing, which stil bears his name By the 1890s, concrete was being used extensively for engi neering projects, such as docks, riverbanks, and bridges, but nat for “proper” architecture. It was the materia’ intinsic qualties hat were causing something of @ moral dilemma, Concrete wasDet! he Unité Habitain in Mares, (1945-52 by e Carus e Carus imag tte modulo man imresed inthe concen is prewar cance wok nus andr eer any raughess ot reins at the Unit and ini at vo sich 2s the goerament bidings at anda (1851-6) be the suraces av toceatea “aged grandeur” and provided ing inspiration for many acitels Deal of earl tiase and al othe Unt ete Dame-d-Haut, Roachan, Fane ata Te wd sri shattering ofthe 850-55), Le Cusir resented is “nessa wth th pact lc ig seuigara eto,“ hyo thi wal in crate a cael considered patter, chapel a clear atu conte, shaped perhaps wth ene bt cata with ura, inthe hope that it wl sok a. inyou a in those wen wil clin the il nd cho of what we have dra it it The huge otis tl of entrcet vaterprocing The petite linear pattem ofthe frm wot i cary, and literate visible on th nde side ofthe roa fee beam etdered pagan (given its Roman heritage) and so unsuitable 25 a construction material for Gothic Revival Christan buildings. AS it had no natural form of its own, concrete was viewed a a ‘material lacking in moral ibe, without characte, and, if used at al it should be faced with a more moral” material, such as stone ‘According to Peter Colin in his book Concrete: The Vision of @ New Architecture, when “Victorians fst lesnt of oncrete they were not so much intrigued by the limitless possiblities offered by it plastic potential, as intimidated by the unprincpled character of its fabrication, since such methods found no place in the annals of Christian architecture and had no precedents except in pagan buildings and text" crete lack of natural form nfused architects in an age when, as Colin says, “No material was to be made took lke any ther materia” The safest bet was fo hide away the ignoble con tude that appeared to be justified by the fact that when the mater used, the outcome as often poor ~ cheap labour and badly designed form work were often to blame, but fre quently overlooked as contributory factors. better stil, instead of disguising concrete, the material was le out of ether, and used only for building where such moral dilemmas didnot atse. Since it was cheap and quick to build with, requiring lite skilled labour concrete soon became the official medium for industial building, in the c stn So much technological progress was mae on industry in the 19th century, and so much effort was made to evelop concrete, that any attempt to accredit discoveries and new techniques to individual nations becomes ificult, Simultaneous discoveries were taking place throughout Europe, especially i France and Britain, It was the European, such as the Englishman Emest L Ransome, who brought new techniques to America, jomever it wast unt the end of the 19th century that some o he most impressive and boldest concrete structures were deve ‘oped inthe United States < CLIFTON CATHEDRAL Cio ats, est, Us (1973) by he Pry Thomas Patrersip Conte came 2 mate suitable for egiusnegapy ith he Statins Of The Cras mold concrete and ‘ivegass panes by liam Mitchel Oia, the panels wrt be cast ins, but because they old ot be sui rotted during the eanstruton ofthe est of he ing, thy reinstalled atewads,caTHEDRA 1 COVENTRY CATHEDRAL Ween of gras nd equilateral angles Caen Catedral, Covet, UX, (195-62) by ee te woe eater. The nay ite Bas Spence, The nave canopy i sported by Lt tif connte ly ae te inp fhe slogan apse, prestessedprzast coms vos sheng, Theis re paint, laste, o mae ith igh bey comer, Orginal Mile, sd tom simple arising the ner wast be faced with pink stone htt sei that ante woul eter tf the stones lass windows by John Pipe and thesRansome is the apparent invent of the concrete frame in its American incarnation. In 1844, he left the Patent Conc Stone Conipany in England, manufacturers of a form of concrete invented by his father, Frederick Ransome. In the late 1860s Emest | Ransome travelled to the United States to introduce his father’s invention to California. Ransome had developed patents for reinforced concrete using twisted bars set transversely to cary tensile stresses. However, in California this simple, and now standard, solution was met with very ite enthusiasm, n spite of this, between 1886 and 1887 Ransome built the very fist reinforced concrete bridges in North Ameria in Golden Gate Pak, San Francisco, which stil stand today. The American Architect and Building News wrote in 1900 that the advantages of concrete are: "fist speedy construction, secand fifth ‘he architectural low cost, third daylight illumination, fourth shockprootnes maintenance economy, and sith fireprooiness.” critic Peter Reyner Banham noted that other materials, such as steel, ate capable ofall f the above except “Frepracfness, and indeed, it was a dramatic fre that brought about a conversion to concrete on a mass scale in building constuction in the United States. As Banham recounts: f Bayonne, New Jersey went up in a spectacular fire that attracted atonal attention b 1902 the East Coast plant of Paciic Coast Borax at set was So hot that see twisted and iron melted into shapeless puddles on the floor. But the flors survived andso did the intemal columns and the external walls which were all made of the same material, fireproof reinforce te There ul4 have been no more convincing demonstration of the virtues of te material." The sheer scale and simplicity of the new conciete grain elevators, the factories the water towers, and the industrial bul ings were an inspiration to the Modem Movement, oth inform and material In Europe its Auguste Perret and his brother Gustave who are cite as the pioneers reinforced concrete inthe first dec 20th centuy. Originally tained as architects, they studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris inthe early 1890s, ane studats in thei father’s sucessful building fim. After thelr father tied in 1905, they took over the company, and actively began to bull and design concrete-ramed buildings as contactors and es of worked as Conaitants for other architects. Auguste was also designing his frstimportant work in his own right, the famous apartment block in the rue Franklin in Paris in 19034 — the fist domestic use of concrete frame. The tuning point came in 1911, however, when the brothers ~ having been hired only as contractors ~ took over the high prole commision to design the concrete-framed Theatre des CChamp-Eisées, ousting from the project the celebrated Belgian architect Henry van de Vee. in 1908, Le Corbusier, the Swiss-bor French architect, worked briefy in the Peret office, which may go some way towards explining his later enthusiasm for reinforced concrete as “the buileing material of the future". Architect Bertolé Lubetkin also 0 Uk ARR paviLto “The ht Den sil staveas i pethap the most famors architectural eleent of te Dea Varr evil, Beil, UK (835) by Serge Chermayett nde Mendel,studied in the Pe ret ofie in 192 the Chi just after Peet had comple ed his ma fh of Notre Dame du Racy church constructed within aw It from exposed concrete with pierced concrete screens and decoration, Working with Peet, Lubetkin learned bout the potential of reinfor concrete, thaugh he v he material n a far less restrained manne than his teacher In 1927 Lubetkin studied atthe petieur de Beton a private institution run by an engineer, where he learned more about the structural properties ofthe medium. His exc lent educa tion was put to good use when he came to England, joined the up, and bul he Penguin Poo Highpoint | and Highpoint I (1 4 Lubetkin tion Fr the fist te he rejected standas Tecton 9 London Zoo (1934) and Th stan degree of experiments eh oped his own constuction system, which alowed him t lessen the ‘among numerou amount of concrete used for each proje reinforced concrete was beginning to gain accepta and recognition within the more progressive architectural circles, Ths tial 3 largely because some significant and in xs were being published or were being prepared for publication. et PArchitecture dy Bet published in France; Le Corbusie’s Vers Une Architecture was trans into English, The eccentric Francis Onderdonk’s The United uthorsuogested that all hose who were interested Style was being prepared in in which the in conctete should adopt Esperanto as an Intemational language to communicate and exchange ideas and developments. In adi tion, Architect nnet and FR Design in Concrete by T P uty was published. Concrete was not embraced quite so vigorously by all of the eat Me preferred material Inthe catalogue for the imi dernsts — for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, steel was al exibition ‘The Intemational Style’ (1931) by Hemy-Russell Hitchcock and architect Philip Johnson, concrete is mentioned only in passing within alist of suitable “surfacing material [At this stage, concrete technology was stl in its adoesce Many projects built before th id World War, which today wtend to assume were reinforced concrete buildings, were, in fat steel-ramed or even brick-buit and covered in stucco in imitation ‘of concrete. The Modernist De la War Pavilion by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayef though iiily designed to be constructed i ed building in England —and the high from reinforced concrete, was in the st d— in fact the fist major welded steel ly. sculptural expressionist. Einstein Tower, also by Erich Mendelsohn, was made of rendered brick. Architects such as Berthold Lubetkin, who had detailed stn, ral knowledge of rein forced concrete, instead led the way, Vilage and Town, one ofa series of children’s books published by Puffin in the 1930s, provides an insight into the hopes and asp: rations invested inthe material atthe time, by pricing the kind world that concrete would help to bul “This new way of building has given us ways ofp towns spreading and creeping over the countryside, Tall blocks of flats have been built that house hund of people. The best on een built to look beautiful and to be in. These buildings take up so litle ground space that there is plenty of room for gardens and trees .. Concrete i being used to build new, cleanlooking individual houses, too... Proper use of reinforced concrete has made these buildings look very efferent from the old buildings, but they rly for their beauty on simple shapes and sim utopia, the failure of which has turned pattems made by the windows.” A Maderist fete into a scapegoat, and precipitated a public relations disaster frm which the maetial has yet to fully recover. + the Second Werld War, to take pce, steel was in short supply and so architects had litle sd and. prestressed co ted 10 u len mass reconstruction star but to turn to reinfor te Le Corbusier had orignaly for his Unité ste Habitation (1 5-52), but due to the shortages of building mat evils he chose concrete instead, and, as a resi created ane of he most influential and innovative concrete housing structures in the world: The Unité was canstructed from prestessed con te; and Reyner Banham noted that the concrete used was a rough and imprecise material, “a messy soup of suspended dusts, gris and sump aggregate, mixed and poured under conditions subject to 1 GATWICK souND BARRIER This mew acoustic erie (1999) a Gatwick igri 430 mets fog (4111 and constr of cured recast cnt pars Fes to pt ary resid rom the mise created by ara sing ane sanding aa > Lyons Tey starion \ewaf the platform area a the TY statin, lyons (19894) by Santige Calatrava, With his ‘monumental fms, Calatrava mats inovatve se of the psi pel af cnc, hs work combines ar, achiteture, and sultthe weather and human fli.” The building was one of the fist examples of the rough naturalness of concrete being actively ted, with litle disguising of, or apology for, marks and flaws inherent inthe material, The rapid reconstruction of houses, bridges factor schools destroyed during the war was the main challenge f construction industiy in Britain, and skilled craftsman and structural materials were in short supply. In response to this ys tems for building permanent low-rise housing from prefebriated reinforced concrete elements were quickly developed. he explosion in the use of precast concrete in the early 19605 and. subsequent proliferation of manuils and books on concrete resulted in the development of many industri building systems. Prefabricated wall, flor, and roof units were factowy produced and assembled on ste with the minimum of sour and effort. With the urgent need to rebuild most of Europe's cis after the war it seemed to be the most lo systems aval prodced, inadequately tested in the county’s hury to build homes, and often failed, resulting in the publi’ dsiluionment th concrete, andthe widespread assumption that it was a cheap and shoddy material (ver the last ten years, things have changed. Cancrete is once Britain alone. Many ofthe systems were badly again the material of choice for designers, and a substantial re has been built Although the examples illustrated here are confined tothe domes Ui, day dernstrate that leading architects ~ suchas Tad Ando, Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, nd Denton Corker Marshall (om amount archite impressive conc ate once more exploring concrete as a medium, The work imercan Minimalist artist Donald Judd has also been an inspiration for contemporary designers. this Chiat Fo jonat Marfa, Texas fiteen giant, hol ‘the landscape like t tation realy isthe highest form of fatery, then the recent appear: crete rectangular prisms len shells of Minimalist apartments. And, imi ance of weiolen carpet tes printed to look tke a rete pave ment, and wallpaper that mimics fai-faced concrete proves that concrete is once again back in fav The cant pavngstone est mal caret les designed by Gaadine Hen far tliben | watvearer denonstate concrete’ ew fastonable satus, The highest frm af teri imitation, foectng the deme otek” but with 2 Here, concrete tet wallop substi fr softer ouch under. the real thing instantSTRENGTH can combine the tensile nit is einfoc Depending on how iti used, con is concrete really strong, howev ost an uneinforced concrete beam i loaded at mid tr with the compressive strength af stone. crete fst en ged as a posible material forthe construction of the top compresses and the bottom is then in tension. Adding rein akness and there g-span structures, twas treated structural in the same way as forcement overcomes this inherent o rack wood or steel. Since then, concrete's great strength has allowed it the mates’ tendency ngth.The (e0us materials used to make the cement (the chalk or lime to be used for practically all types of major engineering projects, I's the constituents of concrete that determine iss including the construction of lighthouses, high-ise idings, rads, vers, bridges, sea baits, tunnels, and dams. Of all the bridges stone) provide the calcium, Ths isthe substance that react with the shale builtin Britain since 1985, approximately 70 percent of them have the silica alumina and iron inthe argillaceous materia n made of ay) to form 3 clinker of calcium silicates, calcium aluminate in architecture the strength of concrete has been exploited to ce- and calcium aluminoferite. The cement clinker is then finely ground fe structures ofa shape and scale never before seen. The epres- up with a small amaunt of gypsum to create what is known as sionis works ofthe Spanish architeclengineer Santiago Calatrava are Portland cement. It the addition of water to the cement tha den This ocuts because ofa chemical reac the an ane'inspiring esi to set and ment to beauty of conete strength “The mighty concrete ribs spanning te ralaay station ation alrport tion between the water im silicates, wl e, and the monolithic cancete vaults at Zurich station, cement hydrates to grow and interlock with one another. Called emphasize ther colossal forms the properties of ths materia ration, this process can last for along time, ths increasing the rangmy The Factryin ales (1381), by ‘he arcitetsCoPatestip and Ove Ap The tet is emaabe forts 8 rind ener shel dames spanning ts pratucton eet. The fata now es dere and uncer teat of denolto Sango Calatravas tuning lait Bid vith ts legen concrete spine signe fr the Sle ap of 1992 in Spainwrgonuction / staensri strength ofthe concrete over a period of perhaps many months Therefore the mix of the ingredients is fundamental to concree’s structural properties The proportion of water added to the concrete mix is critical in determining its permeability, as wel as its strength and resistance {to weathe, wear and other destructive agencies. Too high a per- centage of water dilutes the cement paste and weakens the adhesion between the particles, and resus in a weak concrete Concrete mixes are described in tems ofthe propartons of their constituent materials. The micis specified according tothe required strength, appearance, durability, and workability of the finished product. By altering the proportions of aggregates, cement, and ‘water, changes can be made tothe properties of bath the fresh and hardened concrete, A range of special properties can be imparted to the fresh concrete through the use of admixtures ~ accelerators to speed 1p the hardening process, for example, and retards to slow it down. n some circumstances plasticizers are als crucial aditions to the mix, allowing it to flow well ~ for example, around stel- reinforcing ironwork — without the need to add any extra water, hich would simply serve to undermine is strength. Ai-entaining admixtures can be used to introduce small bubbles that help the hardened concrete resist the destructive contraction and expansion ‘ofthe material brought about by freezing and thawing The versatility of concrete seems to defy all our preconceptions of the material. Simply by changing the type of aggregate used, concrete can be made so light that it can float on water, or made 50 heavy that itis almost twice its usual density. Concrete can be made totally impermeable to moisture for use in the cons truction of gigantic dams, or porous enough to be used in the making of fiter-beds at sewage treatment plants, where water needs to percolate freely through 2s part of its whale cleansing and purfication proces ‘About three-quarters by volume of concrete consists of a com: bination of fine and coarse aggregates ~ sand, gravel, and crushed ck ~ obtained from pts, quarries, and the seabed. In addition to these traditional aggregates, there are modem versions, such as pulverized fuel ash and expanded shale. Both of these are used to make lightweight aggregates. Recycing is even an option, and to reduce the impact that concrete production has on the enviton- ment, the crushed remains of demolished concrete structures can be reused as aggregate for new ones ‘The inspirational work ofthe designers and architects featured in this chapter demonstrates both the strength and versatility of ‘concrete, fom the structural eats of John Lautner and the undo- ‘mestc, monumental sale of Denton Corker Marshal tothe whole concrete shells of Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron, Strength is ‘not usually an issue inthe domestic environment, asthe scale of the projects i too small for it tobe of major cancer, Howevey, the architects are certainly utilizing concrete's quality of strength in ‘order to crate strong, visual statements invoking a sense of per- rmanence, safety, and soiiy > UNDERGROUND DESIGN Te imposing conte canopy ofthe Undergrad statin at Canary Whar in London's vitae Dklands was casing by Noman Faster and artes (1988) spat othe nile Line ‘etesion programe; nich inahed the cmsteton of 2 is of architect deine, Predominant cones, statis,: SHEATS/GOLDSTEIN HOUSE John Lautner (1911-94) was the indsputed hitecture in the USA. As a former pupil of Frank Lloyd \Wight, with whom he studied at Taliesin for six years, Launer was but he lected to use the material in very diferent ways. Wright disap aster of domestic concrete tainly Familiar with Wright’ use of ornamental conc proved of using poured concrete because its freeform meant that it had no intinsic qualities ofits awn —t could Iiteally ome any shape. This though, was exactly wht Lautner loved about it Lautner set up in practice in Las Angeles, at fist using wood for the majority of his houses, but gradually converting to the material hat would make his futuristic dreams are ty ~ concrete, Though relatively unknown in Europe his idiosyncratic wrk seems familia since many of his dramatic houses have appeared in fils and com- ‘metials The most obvious ofthese i the Elrod house, whic, in the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever", is where billoncire Willard White was held captive by the high-kcking Thumper and Bambi, So fa ast the space that most people would have believed it to be another set designed by Ken Adams For Lautnes, "Concrete isthe very best material for withstand: ing sun, ind, fire, and te, and with it one can get a sold yet fre, pes the spectic needs ofthe client The sh most magnificent projets, isa casein pont. Designed exiginally in 1963, it was remodelled between 1980 and 1994, when Lautner esigned the concrete fumiture and fitings. The them nent and desirable spac, formed and flowing to sult (Goldstein House, one of Lautner’ grandest and ing those ne, with iregular angles echoing and comple of the coffered concrete roof spanning the living atea. At ough the furniture was of concrete construction, upholstered leather cushions in warm browns were added for com + BREAKFAST BAR Echoing the desig oth conrt bul uit in the lnng eon, this breakfast ha, vith its concrete war, is a freon at the poplar apliation ct concrete sen tay In comarca bars and itches, usa JOHN LAUTNERthe overall colour scheme. The house, in particular demonstrates Lautne’s admiration forthe work of architects Eero Saarinen, Oscar Niemeyer, and the great architec engineer Piet Luigh New The most striking aspect of the house i its massive coffered concrete roof studded with glass tumbles to allow dappled light into the living room below. Later additions by Lautner were the long bank of concrete seating andthe coffe tables, with a single pedestal supporting a thick sheet fom, the bed base and headrest are also of concrete, and the material encases the sideboard and storage spaces inthe dessng areas. n front of the bed, looking out over dramatic views actoss Las Angeles, is alas. nthe what is known in the USA as a "Loung ieee a Vshaped concrete backrest where you can lie back, place your cocktal on the glass side table, slide back the glass walls, and gaze ‘ut atthe view while enoying the evening breezes. Here, concrete is used asa statement of pure, unadulterated lunury and decadence aps the most beautiful feature is the washbasin, with its single ap (also designed by the architect) rough finish to most ofthe concrete, the washbasin is smooth and polished. Touches such as this, and the warm Bubinga wooden floors and doors, ensure tat spaces appear warm and inviting, in contrat tothe rather In considering this commission alone, Lautne’s reputation as the master of domestic concrete architecture in the USA is ins putable. At the Sheats/Goldstein House, as with all his projects, Lautner was continuing to experiment and invent, using technique way ahead ofthe technologies ofthe time, Often misunderstood, and constantly ating with cries and the media, Lautner proved that concrete was a suitable material forthe domestic intrie more cepted, ontemporary interior design palette 4 years before it wa pit rather grudgingly, nto1 penRaon View f the cones hanbssin wth its sae tap, designed ty Last, Te contat between the south fish othe ink tap and the outer cate al can blest, In thisvew fhe ving ata, the eater ‘poled concrete banquets canbe sen, The dappled ight is natural coming fon las tumble embeded inthe massive tofered cont cingBORDEAUX HOUSE Rem Koolhaas, 19 with his architectural practice, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture based in Rotterdam, is one ofthe mast important architects, writers, researche and teaches working today As ell as being an inspiration to @ generation of students, he is also responsible for some ofthe mast influential ideas inthe field of urban planning and design, and has a incisive understand ing ofthe dynamics of cites. The Bordeaux Houses an extraordinary design ~ one howevet, ‘that was born out of atetble misfortune, The coup missioned the house were living in ld building in Bordeaux when the man was involved in a serous ar accident, Asa result he was confined to a wheelchair, and the couple were then faced with the prospec of finding a Céreustances. Their prime requirement was fora house that would ay home suitable for thelr changed allow him the maximum possible freedom of movement, AS he relayed to the architect inthe early planning stages: “Contrary to what you would expect, | don’t want simple house. | want a com plex house, because the house will define my word.” Rem Koolhaas’s idea was to crete three linked houses’ stacked one on top of each other. The bottom "house would be hal-submerged beneath the ground and contain all the communal and socializing areas, including the kitchen and dining space. Above this, the second "house" would be the mast important, taining the main open living space. The fs-foor cular views of the city of Bordeaux in the distance. This storey was designed, as Koolhaas completely glazed allowing sp himself describes as “a glass room ~ half inside, half ouside —for would be the topmost and ramatically with the mile storey te box, which living.” Above the main living 5 third “house”, contrastn Koolhaas created a cone solazed on the site ele vations and which cas levers out over the lowe level, to house the bedrooms and bathrooms. (One of the key features that makes these spa for a wheelchair user isthe lage internal elevator, platform, measuring 3 «3.5 m (10 x 11% ft, running up the central cove of work so well the stack Op it stops at ea ‘on all sides, the platform fil the gap in the flor level, and the shaft in which it runs lined on FRANCE 1998 REM KOOLHAAS/ OMA 1 GLASS noon In his view fhe lass rum, the sevatr latin in the cent i ig up to jin th ve afte ox The open spaces designed ta says the ate Rem elas, “al inside half cts — LEVATOR shar The biliance ofthe design concept can be snveitdin this ew of the glass wom. How the eleraor plato complts the baioom lee shove, leaving the open sat and the hydraulic ram viseone side by a three-storey bookshell. Books files, reference mater al can all realy be selected as the elevator maves up or down. This gives the owner the all-important Jom to move about freely within hs onn home. As Koolhaas says: “The movement of thee vator continually changes the architecture ofthe house. A machine is its hear." Importantly, Ke er room within the hou has perceives the elevator as anoth 2 room that can mave to all of the storeys or between them, and one that was particularly designed with the dient in mind, The use of concrete throughout the stack is on a major scale Each “house” has a concrete floor and the exposed concrete cel ings reveal the structure of the building, and in the kitchen, even the worktop surfaces are made out of concrete Inthe children eoom at the top ofthe stack of "houses", a large, pivoting, circular panel has been cut out of concrete wall to allow more light an fom the outside, the aperture provides a visual facus for another wise plain facade, The same vsual game is epeated inthe wall of «courtyard next tothe main a de This recuring cular motif is echoed in the dramatic swe ping spiral ramp that provide access tothe private lower storey of the house; and crops up again in the small circular windows that are punched out ofthe heavy concrete upper storey, Throughout the hous toned woods, glass, perspex, and eclectic funiture to create concrete has been teamed with warm ‘machine that feels more human than mechanical enkaoe Aciela pvting aperture allows ditional igh into the betoa, situated a he tp ofthe sing tok, The fxm of the apatri eohiet Inthe smal windows cutout ofthe pat wall the background > USER'S pensrecrive From this weno, oing pam the elevate tom though th shat othe sgt abo, Is possible to aporesate the cones consnetion methods n to undersea the a a6 wel 2 being ale a seo ust what a ia rae and aes solution the Boke shaft i ara hela we40 SPIRAL STAIRCASE Retrowvus is an architectural reclamation and design business established by Maria Speake and Adam His in 1993, ate the par gravated from Glasgow School of At in architecture. “Bridging the gap between destruction and construction is aur philosophy,” explains Speake. Helm Architects was established in 1992 and their experience with historical and listed buildings has given them an appreciation of traditional techniques and the way in which new and old methods can be brought together to bring about the restoration of residential and commercial buildings. In this project Nick Helm demonstrates how contemporary architecture and natu al materials, such as concre can be combined in an orginal way the brief was to bring the narrow living spaces of an eaty Victorian house into the 21st century, The dak and isolated base ment and the ground flor bore na relationship to the garden, or to each other, and both spaces were depressing and unusable The addition of a new conciete staircase was pivotal 1 the Gesign It was installed att mediate between the different levels of garden and house, and placing it in the double height space with roof glazing above not only generated a link between the different level, but aso provid ed vertical moverent through @ very three-dimensional space Using concrete for 3 complex form such as the spiral staircase gave Speake and Helm the opportunity to experiment with the shiting relationship b their thinking behind the projec: "Tobe a usable sculpture sold, independent objectin a robust, external material —a garden object ck of the building where it could ween form and function. Speake describes brought inside offered us @ great opportunity for unusual exores sion. the use of concrete meant that the unstable-sounding rattling ofa traditional metal spiral staircase was eliminated, The construction was complicated, as Helm explains: “ht equied 4 large-scale architectural made! so that it coud be clearly under stood and translated into three-dimensional computer drawings. The forms or moulds into which the concrete would be poured were factonrmade, with 2 computer guiding a hot wire through solid finders of polystyrene." These cylinders took the place ofthe ti titional timber shuttering, which would have been impossibly expensive. The surfaces were left aw and rough, since Speake felt that, “to tamper with them would be to smaoth aay the story", uk 2001 NICHOLAS HELM & MARIA SPEAKE 1d sratnease The co spiral teads of hestaease fan ct ound the cena anc ota crate sculptural an ey solitaireie eo]. Sees BEYER HOUSE ape tze 0°) (nce wes complet, this ftom traditional beach house, perched high among cis on a rocky outcrop in Malibu, California, USA, became the cen’ permanent esidence “The design has an arched root, ited toward the ocean. This 1 only protects the house from the eting sun inthe west, it aso helps to diect both the view and the space outward, toward the magnificent ocean. the undulating, fel cut rot edge suits the dramatic setting of sty, rocks, and waves. This has cated a very free and totaly ungeometric flowing space for living in intimacy ad harmony withthe ocean and the site Aditionalbou ers were brought in to be used as part of the house ands fur- vishing, Indeed, much ofthe future and cabinetwork are but fro concrete, joining boulder togetet, including the sel for the waterbed inthe master bedroom. Stone and conceteforng has been used to complete the beach-house environment,” wrote the house's architec, John Lautner. The project was compromised to some degre by certain pan sing ficulties and budget constants ~ it ook eight years, fr ‘example, to obtain all he planing permissions necessary forthe project to proceed, I also had to be replaned to conform to JOHN LAUTNER tighter budget constraints ~ and keeping projects within budget was nt one of Lautne’s strengths In ight ofthis, the original plan for a concrete roof was change to one made from wood and plas tet The idea behind the design of the house was to capture the spirit ofthe waves and surf a its feet, demonstrated in the bul ing’s curves and sweeping forms. Outside comes inside, not only in ‘the layout, but also through the use of boulders and stone that blur the boundaries between the interior and exterior landscapes. It isthe use of concrete that pulls all the elements together and inks al the other materials, playing more of a background role to the more dramatic flagstones and rocks. But no other material could have brought coherence to this design, making the disparate cements come together to create a home that is part ck pool, part cave. The dappled sunlight employed by Lautner gives the impression of light difused through water, which height the tock poo! effect. This project amply demonstrates that concrete does not have to dominate inorder tobe effective. Even when it is used in ollabo- ration with other dramatic materials it still hols its own, providing sual elit from the mare eye-catching elements view at Latners “foe and tay ngeonetic wath its aot ates —nclaing naturals, apstoes, ‘owing spac fring and corer replace. The is innorably raw tthe cael framed ea view44 | nensre RAWLINGS HOUSE ['%* 1580 [sown cavrwee (On a much smaller scale, and certainly far more homey, than the Sheats/Goldtein House (see pp 32-5), the Robert and Marjorie Rawlings House demonstrates a range of diffrent concrete tech- riques from the master of the medium, the American architec, | Livin Row + statncase John Lautner. The project sits on Balboa Island enjoying views of dal the living wom ofthe Rawlings House Ever tread of the staitase can be see ins Newport Harbour Iisa small house, open and light, which feels shoving the domed concrete frplace tucked ately, hanks tothe see-through perspex ‘much larger than i cell is, party because of the glass wall ofthe eatin comet. The pronounced sutring balustrade The tirase demonstrates the sil main facade which opens up to create an indoorioutdoor room. eet onthe wal tins an echo inthe stiped af the craftsmen employed by Laut Lautner liked to mix different types and styles of concrete so wand of he cling above. that the overall effect was not overwhelming. The main wall in the living ate inthe Rawiings House, for example, has an vetapping finish that makes the wall lok like a set of vertical shutters It is this that provides the decorative focus ofthe rom, while the con cyete-domed fireplace — the traditional focal point in a room — is tucked anay n 2 corner In contrast, when it came to designing the staircase wall, Lautner used @ more subtle, horizontal shuttering effect, so that the wall gently recedes into the background without competing with or distracting from the concrete treads ofthe stai- case that cantilever out from it Lautner was alvays particular to acknowledge the work pro- duced by his contractors and craftsmen. In ths part of the house, he makes certain that, through his use ofa clear plastic balustrade, the skill that has gone into producing this sculptural staircase can be seen an fully appreciated [At the Rawlings House, Lautner uses light to accentuate the design aspects of his materials. He demonstates that simply by ‘washing ight over the surface ofthe wal iti posible o reveal the texture ofthe concrete, thus iting it into the eal of omna- mentation. This is especially apparent in the way thatthe light filters down fram the fist flooy, highlighting the horizontal pattem left by the formwork on the staircase wll. Lautner happily uses concrete as both surface decoration and construction material. Al his projects were very diferent from each other — he loathed the rigidity imposed by “styles” and firmly believed that all his houses should reflect their onmers’ personal ties, rather than his own. Hence, concrete with is flexibility and ts ality to lend itself to a mutitude of ferent techniques, enabled hi to continue experimenting without ever repeating himseltHOFFMAN RESIDENCE ARIZONA 1992 [RICK JOY Pick Joy, whose practice fs based in Tucson, Arizona, USA, has @ rather unusual résumé for an architect. For 12 yeas, before unde taking an architecture degree, he was @ musician and carpenter liv ing on the Atlantic coast inthe nathem state of Maine. After com pleting his degree in 1990, and following a three-year internship with In 1993 his hard work paid dividends when he became the recipient of the “Young Architect of the Year Award’ from tect Wl Bruder, Joy established his ovn pr Progressive Architecture magazine. Since then he has won a sting of other a Harvard Graduate School of Design The Hoffman Residence project involved the remodeling of for hs innovative ideas. He cutrenty teaches atthe an original inaly designed and bul by @ contractor who had spent fong time at Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural workshops at Tal “case study" typeof hous, which had been orig: Wisconsin, USA. The outside of the house consists ofa perimeter wall made of concrete, which has been cat in situ, as well as more traditional baked adobe, onthe inside of which is located a fine, mahogany fe lass pavilion. Joy's commission for the curent partion of work at the Hoffmann House in A na consisted of demolishing the existing garage and reworking the area to create anew master bedroom with adjoining bathroom, Remaining sensitiv to the intentions of 1 sathaon he orignal design, Joys plans incorporate some of the same ‘view athe batvoan, wth its lass-nclsed angles as the existing house. Many of the wall planes are sloped bath and shove. The ugar cance walls and his palette of materials comprised maple for the wall pa of twin hose structure ceilings, and cabinets; stainless steel for a feature wall; and concrete, cast in stu, for the fireplace, bathtub, and floors, Fo = sTatncase the walls and doors, he opted for a combination of frameless Dal ofthe conte stakease sandblasted and at lass Inside and on the exterior of the house, Joy juxtaposes ciferent kinds of concrete to great aesthet ic effect. Inthe bathroom, for example, he contrasts the smooth palished flo ‘aggregate clearly visible = FORMER GARAGE with the extremely rough-cast bathroom wall its “The new master bdo, ferme the ag y 8 thts seat ples concrete oo The ‘A new garage made from sandblasted concrete block is being nd concrete Fela is scat by the built to accommadate the owner’ collection of classic Cadilacs fas wal 2 tat prt ft appears tobe us dating from the 1930s the hause,SHEEP STATION Established in 1972, Denton Corker Marshall {OCM) isa major and now long-established Australian architectural practic. Although has abo based primarily in Melbourne and Sy the practic opened off roduced throughout Asia and inthe UK. They hav a remarkably diverse body of work, with commissions fram the Australian government for embassies in Bling and Tokyo, the Melbourne Museum, numerous ofice blocks and hotels, and some spectacular private houses ~ induding this sheep station in the state of Victoria in the southeast ofthe county, CM's work has a strong architectural language, characterized by an interest in spaces and space making — as well a the frames that enclose them. Their work has been des ed as minimalist, abstract and very conceptual, and concrete i the material that has Frequently been used to express their evolving language. The design of the sheep station has a courtyard as is pri ost a gladiatorial arena no indication that itis part ofa domestic structure focus. This dramatic, bare, and with The plan concrete wal are 4.6 m (15 f) high and run for almost, 200 m (656 f).Thin in comparison with thelr height and length the walls appear asf they are some sort of painted backdrop Set, on an overuhelming scale The house itself is set behind the walls and i tached through a gap inthe black concrete section AUSTRALIA 19: 7-8 |DENTON CORKER MARSHALL This wall slike @ huge door suround ~ larger than the grey wall around it and tte slightly backward to capture any breezes blow ing between thew The entrance does not nd the house behind. em paticulaty inviting at fist sight However, once you have passed though it and into the house, familiar domestic scale returns. The house has been bul as a sri of simple glss-sided boxes offering expansive views over the farm, The floor is polished concrete and continues outside, where it becomes 2 pati. The abstract courtyard does havea serious function: in an area of the country where fearsome heat alternates with bitterly cold Bass Svat, southwe winds blowing up from the sub-antarc itacs concrete windbreak and sunshade to protec aquest house, and sheds behind from the worst f the weather. The sheep station is a formal architectural essay by DCM, a sculptural experiment explaring the relationship between lines, planes, and voids, with few domestic references, The structural pos sibilities offered by concrete and is ability to cope with extreme weath conditions have maul this design possible. With its severe, massive scale, the house has been endowed with a permanent presenceina wild and hostile andsca mental construction with a softer, dom Adetl ofthe entrance way nthe cone wal tha as the family ving spaces. nthe bacharund thee is a tating gmp of the sMas-sncloe ving a, Aven shoning the lak and vitualy bare etanc anya, wth its conasing concrete etme al. The lak wal its back ah, asi leaning on the shorter val behindCAPE SCHMICK —ataae DENTON CORKER MARSHALL 7 Schanck project provides another opportunity to lack at he work of the pre-eminent Melbourne architectural practice o Denton Corker Marshal (see also pp 48-8). Partner John Denton has summarized their work as being "well mannere without symbolism or nostalgia", And here i @ prime hil ample ofthe fr’ phy in practice - there being lite inthe way of nostalgia to be seen in their approach to the Cape Schanck house. This is an illustration ofthe house as object ~ a black monolit Juting out over a bay in coastal Victoria, Like the Kyneton st station in the rural heartland of the stat itis not immediately obvious from the structure of the building that itis house. Here ne tradi The domest sight Jl domestic cono raphy has ance agin been ignored is clad in sheets of black concrete that at fist pears tobe made of metal Like the farm house project, the osed lo inanexp ian, prey tothe ikl elements that can riven, lashing on the side of the change rapidly between blistering heat and wi Hence, the windows have been ol house away from the prevaling wind, situated in a glass ribo providing views out over the beach. At the end of the boxke structure there is also a massive window that fils the domestic 5 with light The client for the house u interior to be simple with afew well-chosen elements The simple interior echoes the the exterior in form, while the basic con floor refers to the exterior constuction. The entrance is located ndeneath the box. On the main level is the living room, ee na bedroom, and on te loa below, reached va‘ con- fe stacase, is a further bedroom and bathroom, The pace housing the stars has a glazed wall that ceveas the staircase in section and exposes its structure ls tothe tre fnctin ofthe stature ne obscured under suet of lake Therastis «monte box wth 3 on eames sestatic typical the wah of Daten Caer MarshallSEGAL HOUSE USA 1979 [JOHN LAUTNER Commissioned by the Segal’, a dance therapist and her husband, John Lautner developed a design for a beach-font house that could operate on two levels—both asa home and asa dance IL known for his lose collaboration and proach that ry diferent from each oth working relationship with his clients a unto the fac that his houses ae al so Lautner believed listening tobe crucial ~ he listened to his clients needs and then adapted them to the particular stengths and weaknesses of ea individual i sometimes by maximizing views and spaces here ar disguising faults there Avistor and architectural student, Henry Whiting, describes his impressions on entering the house: “All the spatial exh ation is grounded by the concrete wall behind you, which works withthe ing to el as though it wraps around you 1 embraces you at this isa very confortable, secure space, yet you a in awe of how dynamic and exiting it canbe at the same time." A Sentiment that could equally be applied to most 3 Lautner’ other Whiting aoes on to not With Lautner, concrete finds an 30 can create humane, enti architec ing spaces with this often misunderstood material Throughout the house shuttered, concrete irepl ings. The kitchen looks out over the beac, with the cures ofthe house finding an echo inthe curves of the kitchen ‘worktop and the frameless glass window. The celing ofthe living room is a wooden hyperbolic pa ith strip-wood c oid. The furniture and furnish ings imitate the shapes of boulders, with the organic curves of the house creating a complete, giotto-Ike environment, The steps walls, oass,celling, and fireplaces all curve in some way, thus ce ating a series of undulating sp Is nota single stright lin in th foliage and creepers, which have been encouraged to take over the It is easy to believe that there eentve house And the amount of lings and walls of the interior rooms and other spaces, heightens. the atmosphere of intimate seclusion “A cavetite living space cures in from the beach front. This basic concent determined the house, providing a variety of shore ing images thatthe sual fat-lass front would neve allows how Lautner described the house enRo0N ‘The gto baoom hes undulating wal of cst ean, ile the nave shutting 1 th ceing einfres the nation that hee re te stig os anyaerein the ous. > KITCHEN Inthe main then ae ofthe house, te mar centinues to cune ul hough he eon baud ner th frameless ass wal tse to fom a aternal window ee54 | srvene | GOMEZ-PIMIENTA HOUSE |nexico zoo [ren anaurrectos Enrique Norten founded TEN Arquitectos ~ Taller De Enrique Norten : ‘Arquitectos — in 1985 in Mexico City, and Bemardo Gémez- | Pimienta joined the practice as a partner in 1987. Then, in 1999, if ‘with Barbara Wilks on board as the third partner, the architectural pact och TEN os ued in New Th yiy ice bad Gael Tt foniocod i dear cores nd nea Sige eal doi Os a ys oe poses an echoes of amy aon ys Xing Sef isiar (acs aiutin Soueiad sarace nce ld a are pabsfed faedmrgece uae See eS ees i | 25 Reese toe ply nos |: Seen aoe ea tle i ba pee face werden ane oars | Neen keg au eaite reelc 1 700 arch ras Ges Pierta del a3 ee Ra aa fein ocs aise aie mi ome ay Bonnaire ale trnaaorasmnat fee es ae Koh Gee al ea acsiee halve Esty pou else a : Giese tale ee The ss tse nthe srl lage fled ar, eet tet een res tsa eee as yacht wpe ax Fabre ng oobi cy lho tc fn Mot Cy ray a yo a res es aang Sele oes Ses ae epee sag ar fetal a etal garg aan goes is tipo atl gnc aps ea ep i ae eee ac hy ner vase as ey | ‘open platform between the poolipato and the lake. > INTEGRATED spaces The house uses a limited palette of material. Al the walls are From the po ae, dappled ight ls the made of concrete, the floors and stais are of travertine marble, Inte ning and kitchen reso the house while the columns that support the roa are made from stainless Te travertine marble fo blends hamonoesy steel, a5 are the handrails throughout the house. The travertine ith he concrete fhe then walmarble andthe concrete ae indesign harmony, echoing each ther in both tone and p Gomer-Pimienta has been careful to make sue thatthe concrete does not dominate the hause — instead itis used as a solid feature 1 contrast with the expanses of glass. Concrete is treated in th throughout the house ~ classic, exposed, cast in situ raw rew-holes providing the only panels with regular moulding-boar ecorative mati The htehe full height, hides the main bathroom, Here, the bath wall, which is more of a solid screen since it isn’t as been set ‘thus maintaining design continuity between the rd th led with alas, gving privacy while maintaining the ilsion tf spaces. The gap bet the top ofthe concrete < satievon Te bathroom ies beyond the ith wall ad demonstrates the effective we of completa et contrasting plete of es, tails ts, conat and od The oss aris made ef marl, wien ves more warmth othe space Above the concrete wal encsing the area, the ee comes toreston the won-encaved watt tank th ‘materials are neutral in tone, the main colour emphasis comes from the roof is somehow floating above the structure, Because th esurtoundings — the lake the sty, the clouds, and the vegetation, The house changes colout thoughout the day: yellow, blue pink, purple, and green depending onthe weather. Concrete pr vides he canvas for this. Gémez-Pimienta explains: “I chase to use wonderful material ~ soft, monolithic, and very sensuous. [ts atthe same time a stuctral material an afin nt how it is made, so there is @ handmade ish and it isan aspect to iA ite bit ike watercolour it shows every mistake and allows for no corrections, Concrete is simultaneously very indusi has al and very handmade stone and 1 solidity he same time the poetry of once having been liquid8 | REINER HOUSE [usa John Lautner himself best describes the Reiner House in Los Angeles, Clfonia, USA: “Two curved walls to the sidelines hide the bedrooms, Kitchen, the music room, quest house, and the neighbours’ houses. These walls separate the functional areas of the house fromthe lving room and open up the space tothe views to both the east and west. The walls were builtin brown brick. A low, arched, concrete roof spans over the entre 280 sq m (3,000 qf) ving area, There are na structural suppors to disturb the Views and the hilltop is kept practically untouched, The roof was ‘ast in place pre-stressed and post-tensioned in bath directions to prevent any cracking.” This innovative roof was an experiment in concrete that was to be developed further in Lautne’s extraord naty Arango House in Mexia, “The original client, Kenneth Reiner, wanted to be abl to sit at. the ining room table and, without moving, but by turing his head, see the ocean to the west, Silverlake tothe east, Mount Baldy to the east, and downtown to the southeast” noted Lautner. Reiner was the perfect client for Lautner. He was @milinaire inventor and manufacturer, who was as keen to experiment asthe 1956-74 [JOHN LAUTNER architect himself, and had the money to do so. He was already 2 patron of contemporary architecture, having ved in a house by RM Schindle. Lautner sald of the project: “I ove this house it was a pleasure to build and Reiner would not compromise on ether materials ot esign, We travelled abroad to find the perfect irishes, Whatever | wanted was done and the house shows the cre that went into it.” This care included traveling to look atthe work of two ofthe mast important designers of concrete structures in the worl Flix Candela and Pier Lug Nev ‘The Reiner House project was very significant in the develop- iment of Lautne’s work, snc it was the fist time he had created a large, pre-stessedpost-tensioned concrete roo. It not only helped toincrease the architec's knowledge of the properties of concrete, it also sparked his affinity with the material. Concrete would, henceforth, become Lautner’s material of choice, It was also the first project in which Lautner used frameless alas, thanks to the support of his cient Reiner, who had prototypes of Lautner’ new ideas and gadgets developed in his own factory. 3 uivane kaon comer fhe ing roa wth its arcitetual concrete pace wth bu In seat. Ping wooden sates ad frameless lass allow ‘united vw ofthe eurcundng county.MAN & WOMAN HOUSE akawa was born in Kitakyushu, Japan atthe Univesity of Kyoto. From 1974 987 he worked for the practice of [hime tects before deciding to become in 1 setup his ‘vm studio, which he did in Toky Shirakawa’ architecture concep is based on geometric forms project has a name. These include the Ltde House, the Cube House, and the Circular House. In the project ilustrated here, known as the Man and Woman House. Shiraka 95 taken a simple rectangle and split it down the middle, thu creating identical spaces each side ~ one for aman andthe other As Shirakawa explains: “Compared to European cites, which are normally built with some degree of urban planning, To thout order and chao Woman House has a unique struct f and makes a unique design statement. Tere fs no der to make it stand out in a chaotic city ie Tokyo and it was the concrete hasbeen lin i side as well as the ouside. The co ete was poured into old moulds to ive it 2 armer finish ~ something that Shirakawa felt was an entirely oprate approa used in a family ho em contradictory, but concrete is both warm and strong It Thess walkway iting the ung the saity JAPAN 2000 | NAOYUKI SHIRAKAWA ARCHITECTS The ous uns aay om the set, omnaucing64 RUDIN HOUSE ‘#vce 1585 [nenzoc & ve nevnow ‘The Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Prerte de Meuron set up their partnership in 1978. Although they are probably best known, atleast international, fr their recent Tate Modern Art Bankside, London, fished in 2000, they had previously developed i, incu Galery, body of smaller work, primarily ther native Switzer ng Stunning signal bor for the railway network in Base This house in Leymen in France is unust in thatthe buling esign ~ with is simplified square form, pitched roof, prominent chimney stack, and large windows — resembles the type of drawing that 2 chld might produce of a “waditional house", inorder 0 < guttering, the 9 the lines clean and simple, there is na © rain simply runs straight down the sides ofthe hou The unreleved solidity ofthe concrete makes i lock as though he house has been sculpted rather that constucted ~ at night time in particular, the windows carved out ofthe concrete shell make the house resemble a huge, rectilinear pumpkin lantern ~ and the Immense blocksh “concreteness” ofthe building is alleviated only up into the air ona platform catied by elegant piers. The platform incorporates a water feature on one bythe fact that i is side of the house and, onthe other, a cantilevered sun terrace that flows int te ving area, Seen from the appropriate angle, the house appears to hover above the ground with no obvious means of support — for this rea son, Herzog & de Meuron themselves have refered tothe house as a “sedan chair. In fact, the house rests on three steel columns ete slab at the fourth cor cae which hides the heating system. With only a Brmovie spaceshipsyle concrete starase connecting it to the with 2 There isa concrete core beneath the st landscape, the building creates a distinctly sureal eect, Talking about the type of materials used in the construction of the house, Jacques Herzog has commented that: “Our interest isin ‘questioning conventional categories and establishing new refer ‘ences as to what volume or weight or surface can mean, Thein finishes are plain throughout, including concrete floors and a bath jor ofthe house is treated as simply as the exterior. The tub suround, with a palette of ose and silver to add warmth here and there. chandelier ads a touch of bourgeoks luxury inthe oth cenvise austeresiete balk thFORM Concrete has no natural form, @ fact that mighty disturbed the Victorians, who interpreted this as meaning that it was without inwinsie characte, that it was an unpincpled, thorou material. This accounts part forthe lack of respect given rete inthe 19th and early 20th centuries rank loyd Wright him self repeatedly critized concrete for being without form, stating that it “aesthetically has neither song nor story”. Bu the irony is that twas this lack af form that gave architects and engineers the ily to create structures and forms previously realized anly in their imaginations or sketchbooks. The shell structures of Felix Candela, and the highly sculptural work of Eero Saarinen ~ take his TWA terminal at JFK Airport, New York, for example ~ and Oscar Niemeyer. Though concrete technology is developing all the time, its creative potential is still under-explored, possibly due to a lack of collaboration and dialogue between engineers and architects, As result, there is a tendency for architects to design with prefab ricated, precast {And while tis can often be unsuccesfl, there are always excep ions tothe ru urintensve in a underground network r Calatra ‘omponents that can be assembled like masony te Paintin central London by Richard Sefer and Partners, was one of the fist office toners to make use of an intrinsically cheap building mate on-standard component or experimentation can beco and very cost tint surprising, then, thatthe contemporary examples in thi d to be houses for seriously wealthy clients or prestigious such as the Jubilee Line extension for London’ rk bridge forthe Sevl 90 in Spain in 1992. major projects have sprung up that celebrate bath the surface ofthe material, rchitets such as Oscar Niemeyer have pushed at he undates of what i posible in con cale that was tion to crete sculptural forms 0 Unity empl, Dk Pak ini, US 1805-8) ty Frank yd Wight. This i gt fit mgr toners stature — the las are monumental and catleaigin tis inpsig ligous bung, The overhanging pti is show ar The sree af the cont smth 54 contnus wit cup etaingia fon IK Apt, lei, 956-2 ty ara Satine. The qualities ve nett an rei! who otto be seus,ious unimaginable, In 1957 Niemeyer vas appointed chief the new capital of Brazil, Basia, For Nleme was the only possible material with the potential o create his vision forms He sid," of Brasilia, with its sensuous organ ed to staight angles or the straight ine ard and ifleble created by man | am attracted to fe flowing sensual curves Cols, in Concrete: The Vision of a New the only , published in 1956 oes: "all 100 frequently concrete merely fufls the role ofa hid prehensive histary of con den structural support, and derives its aesthetic effects solely rom ts power to create dramatic forms unseen." When concrete is used to create dramat Frank Uoyd take is entirely iterent forms, he complains, iis still disguised igh’saporoach to the form concrete, and dsaprv formar, Wright thought that con con Not keen on nak ing of visible joints le rete should be tested so thats sur smooth and con 27 fen recommending ning the formwork with paper to Tinvous — hove this 3t exploited the tensile concrete to create camati sculptural, cantileverng buildings suchas Falingnate, a county rtieat fr the millonaie Edgar J Kaufmann, Usa (1934-4 e mast romantic of al structural possibitis. Bear Run in Pennsyivan Conti evding 0 Wright, Early 20th-century concrete ing was, acc thuslasts felt that the formal possibilities of concrete would result inthe creation ofa new archi tectural style. The examples in this chapter demonstrate some contemporary approaches to using the plasticy of the medium on a smal scale, creating ranges of sculptural, domestic objects from furniture to lights, or using concrete for something more mon mental. All demonstrate the designers’ enthusiastic engagement with co rete’ plastic possibilite cele ris concrete Losi Ha, Kab studied thee tomate use of peas coat panels ‘The Sal insta, Cali, USK (1956-65) by nsf the foman Pola in orto ahi 2 simi Cente Pit Londo, by ichar Seat And Prats, was goof theft ff towersFri72 TABLE, CHAIR, & POT ‘Wily Guhl isa ftesknown designer whose work i, nevertheless Aistnctl familia: His classic Loop chai (originally called the Beach chat) was designed in 1954 for use inthe garden. Guhi was born in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, in 1915, rmaket. After studying interior architecture at the Kunstgewerbe schule, Zurich, where he was later to become Prolessor or Interior hitecture and Industrial Design (1941-80), Guhl set up his own studio in 1938, Ererit he name ofthe manufacturing company and of he gas. fibre, enfrced-concrete material sel) had approached the schaal in the ealy 1950s, asking for new ideas as to how their material could bused, Up to that point it had been mainly employed for roofing and wall facades. Most ofthe academics were appalled by the notion of designing with the material ~ but not Guhl Guhl is interested in al types of material, believing that there ‘ate no better or no worse materials, and that each defines its own application ane form, The idea of creating solid, rigid forms through the shaping and drying ofa pulp fascinated him, and the result has been a 40-year collaboration with teri. Wily Gubl had two of the Loop chairs in his garden and had ‘always wished fora litle table to match them. Then, a technical evelopment inthe material triggered the design ofthe Loop table Etemit fibre cement was italy conglomeration of cement min- ras, and asbestos fibre When asbestos was banned, this component vas replaced by celllous fibre, which cesulted in a bulkier product He modified the design of the chair to cope with the new material and developed the table a the same time Gull has also designed a range of flowerpots for Eterit that have sod literally in their millions over the years, His products are sald through Wohnbedar, @ company setup in 1931 as ane of the frst retailers, manufacturers, and distributors of the light and fun Son of a cabinet tional modern fumiture as espoused by the Bauhaus, Although today itis common to find his Loop chairs used indoors, Guhl makes it lear that the chair was, in every respect, designed for outdoor us. “People send me pictures of their chairs, they paint flowers on ther, they uphalster them; is thelr chai, let them do with it as they want. But still would not put ane in ay livingroom.” J coop raaue The Lop able was desanes in 1999 moe than 40 yeas after the io hat. Th able stains two circular apartures to sccmmodate lasses, [SWITZERLAND 1952-4, 1999 WILLY GUHL CG desiqod the Spindle ot in 1852, in callabraton ith ie students, This orale planter has become a design class = L007 crate Avie of Gus sculptural Lap chal, which e esigne in 1954, Moda in the design wor necessary us othe change tom asbestos to cellos ibe used its caste.SLABS & SHAFT CANADA 2000 MARK WEST The amazing fabric-formed concrete structures that have been oped by Canadian Mark West are sa impressive that they are ‘mare than worthy of inclusion inthis book, providing as they do inspiration and stimulation to all those who admire the use of con caete and ta prove to the material's detractors that ican be curva ‘il ricformed columns thus: "These ceous and tactile, rther than 1 and monolithic Mark West describes his f rere originally tests of formwork designs using Spandex srt fabrics. The fabric ats asa tension membrane to hold and form the wet concrete. After the concrete has gained its strength, the fabri is femoved. These columns and beams located in what had been a hi as public sculptures and thee site transfor sed comer ofa university campus, hae since been adopted into a park within the campus, thus proving the alternative dictum that function also follows form Wests fabric formed concrete technology has also moved oft: campus and has been used for constructing columns in acilden’s theatre in Winnipeg, Canada, and in the construction ofa private villain the Caribbean, His experiments havea larger objective than this, however, and West hopes to develop mass-produced fabric foxms and export them to remate locations, including the develop in order to provide inexpensive, highly portable form work for low-cost shelter. (A wide range of inexpensive textiles, induding an be used in areas where ton and plastic sheeting wood and skilled labour are unavailable) There has also been much otk ‘The Cooper Union in the USA cent emphasis on aesthetic posibiites of such form West studied architect 980. He is cu Structures and Technology tly director of CAST (the Cente for Architectural 2 new research facility that spar of hitecture Faily ofthe University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, aim of CAST is the development of alternative co: struction and ing a dy methods and itis inthe process of establish mic hybrid of architecture, engineering, and building This isan environment that encourages “hands-on” build ing experiments and speculative projects that seek to define new boundaries for the use of building materials, products, and tech nologies, “that wl expand the physical possiblities of building and the poetic ange af fy Aeestfabrie-frmaconzete ees, each on a unique creation, bit on 2 unis campus in Canada by ark West and is students,CURVY WORK UNIT Totem (lan Hume and Catherine Phils) has established. an enviable reputation as architectural designers of concrete in both the domestic and commercial interior. They have been constantly ‘working toward perfecting a uniform and continuous work surface made out of concrete, In this domestic kitchen project, the designers have emphasized both the chunkiness and plasticity of concrete by crating an und lating worktop that looks as though it has been shaped by a jigsaw, echoing the shape ofthe MDF (medium-density fibreboard) shelves beneath. The combination of uiltarian MDF and concrete inthe same unit i a nice touch, since both materials fom the backbone of contemporary constuction, yet both are usualy covered over or disguised in some way in rder to hide their nature and character Hume describes this approach as “a play on honest materials” Hume i keen on the design fom the 1960s and 70s ~ in a lves and wotksin a 1960s interior crated by his parents he rd these design influences can really be seen inthe curvaceous worktop, Totem is curently working ona larger-scale interior proec, consis: ing of a staircase, worktop, and catilevering fireplace, ll made out of concrete. The company has also perfected a new type of sealant that makes the concrete suface totally imperious to any abrasive material or acid-containing agents This represents a major advance, making concrete even mare suitable for use as kitchen worktops AS Hume says: “We used to tll people to take care oftheir worktops but ofcourse they rarely di this new sealant means that they don't have to, We now feel confident we have solved a major prablem area.” Totem is aso investigating the possiblity of designing and producing is own ange of sinks and basins made from concrete, and itis constantly being asked to produce baths as well Hume is keen to pradiece bats, but the problem to be overcome here isthe development of heating elements that can be inserted within the concrete. Since the concrete absors heat, the bath water oes cold very quickly fhe bath self is nat heated. Totem believes the material stil has lots of potential to be explored and is now ing some of the techniques and knowedge it has devel oped while working with concrete to another rather neglected material ~ plastic tra: Jux 1999 [ToTEM Dest6N 1 > wortstarion The panic shape atthe warstatin doubles 35 foot-preparaton rea anda besa ba Dap its weight the eanrt-omed warp eons toot above the MDF shes that replat its eavaceus form,KITCHEN & BATHROOM Kayode Lipede's interest in concrete was fist sparked while he was still an architecture student at London, though atthe time he was more inspted by the imorob he Architectural Assocation in ity of concrete boats than concrete buildings. n 1996, ater completing his studies he set up his own company designing and manufacturing concrete furniture and fitings for houses and bars Lipede i to use concrete as structurally 25 posible, creating walls, floors, and major objects suchas baths and worktops, so that he can utlize the qualities ofthe material tothe fullest extent Lipede is hands-on by instinct, and through experimentation has developed his own mixes and his own concrete recipes. The ruances of shade he can achieve through his mastery of the mix means that he can naw produce more than 50 distinct shades of rey, ranging from duck grey to grey-whiteLipede doesnot ike 10 add pigme the types of sand," ike natural tones and would rather not use types of angregate used, believing that jagged stones are more suitable to terazz0. referring instead to introduce colours by changing pigments at all" He is also particular about th For concrete he prefers the effec produced by rounder aggregates, such as pea shingle, which he believes are part ofthe “signature of concret Lipede's repertoire of concrete creations is growing al the tne, and now he has produced worktops, floors, baths, benches, and fireplaces, and he is curently exploring the possibilities of roduc ing concrete plank walls, More than 90 per cent of his work is now made on site, creating object in their own environment. fomes what you mate i,” Uipede explains. you a clean slate" The advantages gained from its use in domestic interirs are varied, as concrete can be repolshed “The matetial concrete offers and rescaled again and again ~ tired worktops and floors can be made to look brand new once mare, And because concrete is porous, the material really absorbs the sealant, making it quite an impermeable surface. It can also be made to any precise thickness you like, an advantage it has over stone. Lipede fees that concrete isa its best when used with weight Itsheavness and thickness can ntally seem daunting to cents, but ‘the possibilty of ceating chunky elementsis part of ts character and he finds cents respond to ths once they ee the final sus UK 2001 KAYODE LIPEDE In addition, as Lpede explains: “One of the advantages of working with concrete is that you don’t have to have seams and) joi, as you would fusing, say, marble or granite ~ it also means that you ca produce work that is more sculptural in concept." With his expertise, passion, and continuing experimentation, Lipede will certainly be developing new ways of introducing crete into the home in the future J concrete & Atunese-stet ik and single tap nit sete ie into the nite concrete snp, ich incrprates an intr dan, a interest INTERIOR AND: COURTYARD Imran autre Seth Resign, London by get. Te inthe courtyard by Zigurat an pute. ay in sity conerete BchSTOOL & PLANT HOLDER (18 THe susp hel Reynolds founded The Shed in 1999 after spending a year a Reynolds initially studied metal design at college, producing every experimenting and producing prototypes of concrete furniture hing from cutlery to sculpture, and aftr g vating worked forthe designer Ron Arad before setting up on her own, Since est ablishing ‘2 metal workshop would have been enormously expensive, Reynolds decided to work incor 2 instead, She Iiterally set up business in her shed, and wit itle power equipment avaiable she had to produce everything by hand in basic cone ated, incorporating the concrete less bile, Reynolds Now th as become mote com lots of resins and latex to mak also experiments with lightweight agg 5 Pearle, 0 help reduce the weight of some ofthe heavier stools and benches More recently, she has worked with Bylite ~ polystyrene beads with cement paste ~ to frm a ightweight ag Because her stools were originally intended for garden use, tei design is very organic, oft beter withthe natural landscape. is Unusual for concrete to be used to create organic forms, though, of ours, its plasticity and the fact that it has no form of its own make it an eminently suitable material. No doubt this aesthetic is eto Reynolds’ sculpture ing. Now thatthe stools are creep ing inside the home, however, she has developed coffee tables, iveplaces, and pos to complement moves into the domestic interior, Reyn Once concrete furniture lives: “ht should be used sparingly, asa feature for effec, rather than en masse.” The stools have an impasto-ike finish, partly ecause they are made by toweling concrete onto a wie fame so thatthe trowel stroke ae obvious, Reynolds’ pot lok even rougher. The concrete isa deish mix— which means it cracks and crumbles more and the aggregate stays onthe surface - and its poured into moulds ln with scrunched-up polythene, which leaves a textured imprint o the pot. Reynolds highlights these “wrinkles” by filing them with ade, After which "I hit it with a hammer, she says, “to knockoff excess lumps. tis also ver therap cement of a en sroats sys works wth base coneate plement at whl, gy and lack als occasionally ading «art clos but exchening ghee Test, she ns, ate nt nl ible fat ‘re ls inappropriate. Ths vy mh iis ith eri that, why use cane iw at ving to make tek ie something ee”82 | OxXO LIGHT [ue iss The stylish concrete Oxo light was designed by Peter Wl for his, company, Babylon. Wylly was bom in Leiceste, England, in 1967 and went on to study fshion design. Despite his fashion design background, when he established his own business in 1991 atthe age of jst 24, it was to take advantage of anew production tech- rigue he had invented for making lamp shades. n 1997 he formed Babylon designs with Brit el, designing and producing lighting and accesories, as well as crating special products for well- known high stret outlets such as Habitat, Conan, The Body Shop, and Ambiente In 1999 wyily launched Babylon London — a collection af ‘lighting and accessories, Including designs by Michael Anastasiades, Torsten Neeland, and Matthew Hit, Wyly is now diversifying his business interests and is launching an e-mail messaging sjstem and planing to open a Babylon designed and co-owned hotel in Provence, Franc, in 2002, which wil feature many new Babyion-desgned produc The Oro light was designed to work like a buiting bloc, so ‘that individual lighting units could be stacked together in any configuration desire bythe user. As this type of usage was part of ETER WYLLY the nial design concept, twas important to use a material that stackte Lisurs The Oo ihts work el when stacked toate tocreate sutra lant. Because thy have back ot they can be assembled in any umber of diferent ways.84 | juk 2000 SINK While studying a college Adam Backbun supplemented is day to-day living by working on constuction sites. It was here, ashe watched concrete beng used nthe buldng ade that he realized tere were possiblities for the application of concrete in more interesting, nd certainly more creative way. As his wok at colege progressed, Blackburn found hinsel increasingly intrigued by the design posses of concrete, not just because ofthe range of textures fred by this materia but ao because ofits “potential for three dimensional moulding’. Blackbur’ sink on legs was an eat attempt to explore the inherent design potential of cast concrete He bul the formwork ‘incorporating the profiles that resulted in the dtainer channels, demonstrating concete's adaptability when it comes o producing isp detaing “The main drawback to making obec from ordinary concrete is the dead weight of the rshed artefact this egard, Blackbur was impressed withthe chunkness he achieved but hes now look- ing ta variety of diferent tecniqus for iting the lad. As ter designer working in this eld have discovered, adding iht- weight aggregates othe concrete mix offers definite possiblities ‘ADAM BLACKBURN Blackbur hes alo exerimented with combining conte with coer mates. Hissin, fr example, ests on strong, stainless ste legs. The snk i intended tobe festandng, rater than inetd into a worktop whee, apart fom the inter and outer fim, it woud largely be hidden, When seen exposed ike thi, “reveals its tue shape and moolthienes— ital gest a tly Sculptural presence. Blackburn's work is now leading him in 3 diferent recon tng more unusual aggregates, such asin fl ings. ace the conte has st, he grinds back the sutace to reyeal the metal and then poses ito ceate a sikng contrat. Inetaby, the design of his snk is sulting in commision for baths and other monolithic pieces. However, concrete and water ray ot se ke a natural combination ~ afterall some people's preconceptions about cone stem rom sexing the ugly water stained, eter concrete wal towaing above them. Tis ocus largely a6 a result of inadequate dsinage combined with poor maitenance But today the resins, ads and sealants that are realy avaiable mean that this sles ely to acu With the concete impemedble to water, the sutaces of sinks, baths, and showers renin unstained Foam= 1 ste ann oearner The treme chunhines of his cst-coneete sinh, a al lactur ret, suggests that tho boa and aning board hae bah een cari oa of a sing lk. 85RINGS & BOWLS Uk 2000 [KELVIN BIRK Atracted by the plasticity af concrete, gld and silversmith Kelvin mix, the results ate rougher and more textur Bik h xpecimenting by teaming one ofthe cheap ild+ that drier mixes give a rougher fin itl acaft quality to ing materials with a range of precious metals and stones working with concrete on this scale. Birk discovered, for example In Bik’ rings and ants, concrete is wiched between that if when making his rings a ring, the concrete died too examples precious tones, such as dia- quickly it would simply crumble. To ov ne this, he had to inhib no embeded in it~ thus creating the most expensive cf it the drying proces, stretching it over an ene da Kelvin likes the dea ofthe dlamond being found in the Although many people have found Birk’s fascination with at surrounds it as its “ke finding a precious stone jar him the attraction lies in the unpre: {8 mauntain’. In ether experiments he has introduced paint pig- i 7 results: “concrete is controllable up to a ments nto the mix to produce coloured rings and earrings that ook point but you stl are never quite sure how it will look whe more lke a semi-precious stone than concrete mes out ofthe mould. And that is part ofits attraction, all the Some of Birks othe experime vp fe mould fr a smooth finish The then gl 2p utilitarian objects into some hing altogether more lnutious. He has tied many types of mix, | Saunwice arn sometimes taking the bow cut of the mould before thas fly set, thin ayer coer, wth its agra cea impart a rougher finish, ional, he found it harde to produce vise, has ben sandwiched betwee wo hin 3h surface than a smocth one, but by adding mare sand tothe ser of ver to make his <1 mense rine 1, he cone suc othe ng te ror proinet, more wed he, and far ageogate as been ua to make‘Wo dierent versins of Bit’ tows can be seen fre. nthe example be, ser ines has been added to proce a sinus fish inthe thet, at mc titan rsh has bon achieved by leaving the concrete“LOFT APARTMENT Designed by architects Buschow Henley, the concrete dividing walls in this loft apartment act asthe major defining sculptural elements of the design describes them, “emblematic m ne two concrete dividers oy, as architect Simon Henley uetes", re constuced from pre cast concrete planks 1500 x 100 x 150 mm (5 ft 4 x 6 in). At one end, aerate planks ae absent, allowing the adjacent planks to can tie x Part of a band near the top of one of the dvds is wooden rather than concee, and this simple transition helps to ralieve the mass and create a relationship with the wooden bathroom doors behind, also acts as reference tothe imprint ft inthe con ‘cae from the timber frmavork used inthe casting process. The isa wal hat eats light, almost delicate Buschow Henley had originally wanted to cast in sit, but soon realized that casting a wall onthe second flor was nota practical proposition The recessed lighting installed both above and below the dividers casts a warm glow over the surface, The way the concrete i illuminated makes a significant difference to aur here, for example it seems warm and comforting, Henley fs sightly tongue in cheek in his design approach to con crete. By using tin highly simplified, very mannered way, he exploits the material for its sculptural and decorative qualities rather than its constructional ones. The new concrete has a resonance seen against the exiginal concrete usd inthe buildings shel, the whole pro tis, for Henley, an exercise in constuction. His client, who adies the work ofthe att Richard Serra, had asked fr a concrete mono lth — an idea that appealed tothe architec. Even in a domestic into, Henley believes itis unnatural, a denial af the qualtes of the matefal, o make small things out of concrete The concrete has a waterproof auitve, a necessary precaution as the shower, this rk, the perec de has rested the back of one wall acts asthe splashback to concrete shower tray. Because of the tinber fos flush line ofthe concrete planks in ving spa in some unevenness onthe shower side which has ta tractive, weatherboad effect, Simon Henly isthe ist to admit that spite at calls "boutique fri! nd his aim isto apply his concrete plank crete construction techniques are not yt per tects best efor. He doesnot ike wha and “concrete tokensm" constuction on a grander uk 2000 BUSCHOW HENLEY The cnzate plans making pte dividers have bee ai in a tthe band ptt nthe iy ar, so mimicking an uniting the diet lemurs and mater,FLOOR WITH LIGHTS I was the early work of designer Ran Arad, especialy is concrete ecard deck (see pp 136-7), that made Eric Barrett realize the pote tial of the material. Garett founded Concrete Blond in 2000 to develop ideas for interior concrete products His intrest in conc eveloped while he was at colege, whe he found he could use ceramics techniques, such as mauld-making and casting, fr con ete ~ thereby achieving results more quickly and easly than with clay. He also used his glss-making skills by developing concrete tha incorporated glass, and he now successfully combines these mater als to produce floors and screens that can be iluinate. The co ick and tho glas is held in place within the concrete by a stel sng. The rete paving cast by Barrett is 35 mm (1 in) paving is laid on a raised floor to allow forthe cabling to run ndemeath, and flex rope light bubs below the glass need replac ing only every thre yeas, Barrett polishes the concete himself unt itis very smooth," lke the urtaposton ofthe unusual textures ~ the contrast between the smoothness ofthe concrete and the roughness ofthe glass”, He designed his fst «rete flooring for an exhibition of his glass. work, simply to cover an unsightly exhibition floor, The resuiting interest gave Barett the idea to develop it futher as a product u because | like the dea of bringing inside what is all around us out many designers, he likes his concrete grey. "I prefer it side grey paving stones and the archi 19605 tural monstrosities ofthe h a Clients don't necessary agree, however, ith aggregates of limestone the concrete moce of a refering ple, o hippings. This gi elke effec. Working in batches results in slight changes inthe mix and so slight variations in shad, which ‘makes the paving look more ike natural stone. As well s floors, Barrett has designe illuminated screens with stainless-steel frames holding the paving in place. He is row look: The clash ing at sing different colous of glass in the pane! prlucing the concrete panels and glassincfferent shapes. Hehas already come a long way: “A en I ist ated experimenting with i uk 2000 ERIC 1 SAFETY cuass 158 sealed wit seo ell 25 grating othe sit fly in place. ste glass shadow and nar as hk ste cnet in which itis huse, its ve song and can be concrete, people's reactions were quit hostile | fel thatthe con- waked on witout damage crete floors around were very dl poured ones felt there was an ‘opportunity to use the properties ofthe material more fully. BARRETT Sean close-up, the tor mourte ts ok elas pebtes— pees at gant agpregte— alos sf they ha ae vealed as sult cf the posing proces cari auton te surovcing cette sure,SAG TARILE THE NETHERLANDS 2000 JESSE VISSER When you fist ee tis table, with its waferthin, curving top i is tificut to believe that it i, in fact, made out of concrete It defies all the stereotypes that define concrete objects which state that they should be heavy and rectlineat, Jesse Visser designed the Sag Table for his graduation show in the theee-dimensional desi department ofthe Ute ha cht Arts School in The Netherlands. The table won @ number of design prizes and was pat of Droog Design's collection shown atthe Milan Furniture air in 20 The Sag Table does indeed dip inthe middle ~ being 5m (2 i lower inthe centre than iti atthe edges. Explaining his thinking behind the table's unique d concentration is rected tothe lowest pont, where ign Visser believes that "the energy and usersis”.The dimensions ofthe table are 200 x 100 175. (approximately 78x le that would have of 50 m (164 f). "When one sits in the middle of 39 29 in. In section, the table forms part af cic he table, the tableto 1NeS up fom te sitter and so the items on the table do not stand compl ly vertically, making one think about the relationship between praduct an dl consumes,” says Visser. Concrete, the designer believes, “stimulates one's tactile senses, but seems completely adept at keeping its original form.” With concrete used in this fashion, strength isan important onsidertion, and so the tabletop is made out of reinforced con te tha s 2 cm (in) thick. The structure of the tabletop is very ter as possible has been mpact and strong because as fit auided to the concrete mix It is reinforced with two layers of frealass to form the strong, rigid surface that is required for sae ty After the concrete has been poured, tl 2 thin sheet of polystyrene to produce the very smoath surface ofth mauld is covered with finished table As the name suggests, the topo th Sag table ips inthe mile, ving the impression of ‘8 slende, enbl top in conta wit the iid solo the les.zs a96 | THE STONES [usw 188 ‘The artist and designer Maya Lin is best known for her Vietnam ‘Veterans’ Memarial in Washington DC, designed in 1981 a com mission she won in competition whl tl an undergraduate at Yale University. Trained as bth an artist and architect, her work reflects her response and sensitivity to nature specifically the unique con- ions of landscape and topology; her interest inthe shifting boundary of the horizon; and her use of natural materials, {i her sculpture, this inspiration from nature is often combined with Easter aesthetics, resulting in work displaying 2 dignified restraint and subtlety. As Lin herself says am inspired by land: ‘cape, topography, and natural phenomena, but its the landscape from a 20th