I'm writing a dissertation about concrete architecture and wanting some advice on were to go for research. Not sure on the title yet. Maybe 'Concrete -Vs- Architecture?? I need some nice black and white photography. Some of which I have taken myself and some from abroad were I am unable to travel.
Where in the UK would be good to visit, which website, books, etc are best to look at?
Uhoh, someone said "concrete"! That means I have to trot out a samll portion of my favorite essay on the material at hand, Peter Schjeldahl's "Concrete and Scott Burton" from "Columns and Catalogues":
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Concrete is the most careless, promiscuous stuff until it is committed, when it becomes fanatically adamant. Liquid rock, concrete is born under a sign of paradox and does not care. It doesn't care about anything, lazy and in love with gravity but only half in love. Pour concrete on the ground and it will start to puddle and spread, in rapture to gravity but then will think better of it: enough spreading! Concrete can't be bothered; it heaps up on itself in lazy glops, sensual as a frog.
Concrete takes no notice of what is done with it, flowing regardless into any container; and the containers one makes for it, the molds and forms, must be strong and tight, because concrete is heavy and entirely feckless. Promiscuous, doing what anyone wants if the person is strong enough to hold it, concrete is a slut, a gigolo, of materials. Every other material – wood, clay, metal, even plastic – has self-respect, a limit to what it will suffer to have done with it, and at the same time is responsive within that limit, supple in the ways it consents to be used. Not concrete.
Concrete is stupid and will do anything for anyone, without protest or pleasure, so long as the person indulges concrete's half-love of gravity, its lazy mania to lie down. Concrete does not care if you respect it. It does not know the meaning of respect. Only give it a place to lie down, a place of any shape, and concrete will do your bidding.
Let concrete set, however, and sense the difference. Concrete hardens in the shape of whatever container received its flow, its momentary sensual abandon in thoughtless submission to half-loved gravity. Once it has set, what a difference! Concrete becomes adamant, fanatical, a Puritan, Robespierre. It declares like no other material the inevitability, the immortality – the divinity! - of the shape it comprises, be the shape a glopped heap on the ground or a concert hall, ridiculous or sublime.
you are in luck. the latest of A+U is devoted to some quite nice bits of concrete inarchitecture. not as erotic as liberty bell's choice, but refreshing for its lack of ando.
_Auguste Perret :One of the first in the 20th century to expose concrete
_Pier Luigi Nervi(arc/Ing) : Using concrete for it's incredible structural capabilities and expressions
_Eero Saarinen : TWA Terminal is just unbelievable
Oscar Niemeyer : Using light and structure in very futuristic forms
_Gaudi of course...
_Le Corbusier
_Le "Brutalisme"
These are all old school though....but a good start.
There's a new book coming out by Princeton Architectural Press called Materials for Design. They list concrete as one section. I have not seen it but it sounds good, maybe like a comprehensive Details magazine.
5pm Tuesday 28 February 2006
Wolfson Room in Institute of Historical Research, University of London
Matter and Elements Seminar
Adrian Forty Bartlett School, UCL
Concrete and Culture
The London Group Of Historical Geographers and the UCL Urban Laboratory present the Spring Term 2006 Seminar Programme. The guest convenor is Matthew Gandy of UCL.
For further details, contact David Lambert, Royal Holloway (01784 443640) or Miles Ogborn, Queen Mary (020 7882 5407). We are grateful to Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Kings, UCL, the Open University, Sussex University and the IHR for supporting this series.
If you want to see a great example of engineering/architecture I'd check out the Falkirk Wheel. Not sure where you are in the UK, but it's probably worth the trip.
liberty b, - the Schjeldahl bit is v. nice, and i must've missed your earlier postings of it - thought he was more an art critic than archit. could you either post it all or email it to me?
Makoto Suzuki - famous for concrete much rougher and more unfinished than Ando's comparitively smooth variety.
Interesting but far from the UK, more precisely, Japan.
When I was in Barcelona, it seemed everything was made of concrete, those Spanish are a dab hand and making any all kinds shapes, from the 'Sharon and Gavin's' elaboate Benidorm Villa pool to Calatrava's recent Valencia works and Enric Miralles Santa Caterina Market... The Spanish seem to really 'know' concrete.
i agree joek. the spanish approach is much more human than the japanese version too. don't know why, i always feel a kind of tension in the spanish concrete work that speaks about being alive/active/striving.... here the concrete is just too perfect. nice, but...
course many probably just see it as more gymnastic-y..
Mark West has an interesting workshop - he works with fabric as shuttering. The patterning of the material, its elastic behaviour, its cut determine the outcome. I think LB's description would fit nicely:
c - It's long, and I don't think I have it all in computer form, but I'll look. If you don't hear from me in a few days email me and remind me you want it - I'm glad to spread Schjeldahl's words, like concrete on the floor...there's a nice bit in it too about how chipped away chunks of the former Berlin wall can sit on his shelf and still scream "I'm a wall! I'm a wall!!!" Awesome.
last time I saw Mark, he presented at the concrete society - mentioned above - a few years ago. Some of the work is well over a decade old now and I'm not sure I believe the optimization bit. Gravity, yes.
sorry didn't realize the link - did you work with him?
he recently won the holcim award for sustainable construction, which is very cool, and his work continues onward slowly but surely...
i took his course on fabric formwork before they made the CAST building for him and while the work was interesting i think the thing that sticks with me most is mark's attitude to architecture. There really are some people who are made to inspire folks to be good architects...and mark is one.
anyway, def worth looking at. more recent work i think in the downloadable section...
Hi,
Dissertation writing is not as easy as it sounds, apart from discussion, your instructor could be a real help in every part you want. For your help in Concrete Architecture visit: http://www.concretecentre.com/main.asp?page=455
for photography, please do mention at what place you are residing.
Concrete Architecture
Hi people,
I'm writing a dissertation about concrete architecture and wanting some advice on were to go for research. Not sure on the title yet. Maybe 'Concrete -Vs- Architecture?? I need some nice black and white photography. Some of which I have taken myself and some from abroad were I am unable to travel.
Where in the UK would be good to visit, which website, books, etc are best to look at?
Hope somebody out there can help.
Thanks
Anthony (UK)
Uhoh, someone said "concrete"! That means I have to trot out a samll portion of my favorite essay on the material at hand, Peter Schjeldahl's "Concrete and Scott Burton" from "Columns and Catalogues":
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Concrete is the most careless, promiscuous stuff until it is committed, when it becomes fanatically adamant. Liquid rock, concrete is born under a sign of paradox and does not care. It doesn't care about anything, lazy and in love with gravity but only half in love. Pour concrete on the ground and it will start to puddle and spread, in rapture to gravity but then will think better of it: enough spreading! Concrete can't be bothered; it heaps up on itself in lazy glops, sensual as a frog.
Concrete takes no notice of what is done with it, flowing regardless into any container; and the containers one makes for it, the molds and forms, must be strong and tight, because concrete is heavy and entirely feckless. Promiscuous, doing what anyone wants if the person is strong enough to hold it, concrete is a slut, a gigolo, of materials. Every other material – wood, clay, metal, even plastic – has self-respect, a limit to what it will suffer to have done with it, and at the same time is responsive within that limit, supple in the ways it consents to be used. Not concrete.
Concrete is stupid and will do anything for anyone, without protest or pleasure, so long as the person indulges concrete's half-love of gravity, its lazy mania to lie down. Concrete does not care if you respect it. It does not know the meaning of respect. Only give it a place to lie down, a place of any shape, and concrete will do your bidding.
Let concrete set, however, and sense the difference. Concrete hardens in the shape of whatever container received its flow, its momentary sensual abandon in thoughtless submission to half-loved gravity. Once it has set, what a difference! Concrete becomes adamant, fanatical, a Puritan, Robespierre. It declares like no other material the inevitability, the immortality – the divinity! - of the shape it comprises, be the shape a glopped heap on the ground or a concert hall, ridiculous or sublime.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It goes on another few pages like this. I never tire of reading it, though I'm sure my fellow archinecters tire of me posting it!
I think I need a cold shower now...
The Concrete Society in the UK runs a series of lectures, mainly at the Building Centre which is also home to the New London Architecture exhibition space on Store Street which is right by the British Museum and AA...
Boston City Hall....a hell of a lot of Concrete.
you are in luck. the latest of A+U is devoted to some quite nice bits of concrete inarchitecture. not as erotic as liberty bell's choice, but refreshing for its lack of ando.
Check out these architects
_Auguste Perret :One of the first in the 20th century to expose concrete
_Pier Luigi Nervi(arc/Ing) : Using concrete for it's incredible structural capabilities and expressions
_Eero Saarinen : TWA Terminal is just unbelievable
Oscar Niemeyer : Using light and structure in very futuristic forms
_Gaudi of course...
_Le Corbusier
_Le "Brutalisme"
These are all old school though....but a good start.
Thank you everybody!!
If anybody thinks of anything else please let me know...
There's a new book coming out by Princeton Architectural Press called Materials for Design. They list concrete as one section. I have not seen it but it sounds good, maybe like a comprehensive Details magazine.
check out tadao ando's work
M.K. Hurd, Formwork for Concrete.... sixth edition the US builders bible. old school.
"concrete construction manual" Birkhauser
5pm Tuesday 28 February 2006
Wolfson Room in Institute of Historical Research, University of London
Matter and Elements Seminar
Adrian Forty Bartlett School, UCL
Concrete and Culture
The London Group Of Historical Geographers and the UCL Urban Laboratory present the Spring Term 2006 Seminar Programme. The guest convenor is Matthew Gandy of UCL.
For further details, contact David Lambert, Royal Holloway (01784 443640) or Miles Ogborn, Queen Mary (020 7882 5407). We are grateful to Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Kings, UCL, the Open University, Sussex University and the IHR for supporting this series.
If you want to see a great example of engineering/architecture I'd check out the Falkirk Wheel. Not sure where you are in the UK, but it's probably worth the trip.
liberty b, - the Schjeldahl bit is v. nice, and i must've missed your earlier postings of it - thought he was more an art critic than archit. could you either post it all or email it to me?
Makoto Suzuki - famous for concrete much rougher and more unfinished than Ando's comparitively smooth variety.
Interesting but far from the UK, more precisely, Japan.
When I was in Barcelona, it seemed everything was made of concrete, those Spanish are a dab hand and making any all kinds shapes, from the 'Sharon and Gavin's' elaboate Benidorm Villa pool to Calatrava's recent Valencia works and Enric Miralles Santa Caterina Market... The Spanish seem to really 'know' concrete.
i agree joek. the spanish approach is much more human than the japanese version too. don't know why, i always feel a kind of tension in the spanish concrete work that speaks about being alive/active/striving.... here the concrete is just too perfect. nice, but...
course many probably just see it as more gymnastic-y..
Mark West has an interesting workshop - he works with fabric as shuttering. The patterning of the material, its elastic behaviour, its cut determine the outcome. I think LB's description would fit nicely:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/architecture/cast/CASTonline.html
go to the image gallery pull-down menu, choose fabric formwork (great b&w photos - image 1 is from his exhibition at Storefront, NY)
a pdf description of it is here: http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/architecture/cast/pdf_downloads/1_pr.pdf
loved the links snowi.
c - It's long, and I don't think I have it all in computer form, but I'll look. If you don't hear from me in a few days email me and remind me you want it - I'm glad to spread Schjeldahl's words, like concrete on the floor...there's a nice bit in it too about how chipped away chunks of the former Berlin wall can sit on his shelf and still scream "I'm a wall! I'm a wall!!!" Awesome.
snowi, you know mark?
last time I saw Mark, he presented at the concrete society - mentioned above - a few years ago. Some of the work is well over a decade old now and I'm not sure I believe the optimization bit. Gravity, yes.
sorry didn't realize the link - did you work with him?
he was one of my profs and a friend.
he recently won the holcim award for sustainable construction, which is very cool, and his work continues onward slowly but surely...
i took his course on fabric formwork before they made the CAST building for him and while the work was interesting i think the thing that sticks with me most is mark's attitude to architecture. There really are some people who are made to inspire folks to be good architects...and mark is one.
anyway, def worth looking at. more recent work i think in the downloadable section...
Hi,
Dissertation writing is not as easy as it sounds, apart from discussion, your instructor could be a real help in every part you want. For your help in Concrete Architecture visit:
http://www.concretecentre.com/main.asp?page=455
for photography, please do mention at what place you are residing.
Sara Micheal
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