The Architecture of “Concrete”

Somewhere in practically every built structure is a material whose recipe consists of just two ingredients: crushed stone and water. Together, these remarkably simple components make concrete. Versatile and universal, the mixture that once hardened into the Parthenon’s breathtaking dome was also poured 2,000 years later to create Frank Lloyd Wright’s terraces at Fallingwater. It can be stretched into a billowing roof or layered to form a skyscraper’s subterranean foundation; set into sidewalks or pulled upward in the columns of a skyscraper. Tough and timeless, it supports, encloses, and decorates. Organized by theme—juxtaposition, landscape, light, and scale among others — CONCRETE thoughtfully examines its contradictory qualities and applications. A gorgeously bound book, CONCRETE offers invaluable and fascinating insight into this dynamic material and the forms it has been used to create.