Concrete / Bèton / Beton

by Joachim Fischer

This book presents an extensive look into developments in concrete architecture in the twenty-first century. International examples testify to the creative possibilities of this fascinating building material.

Text in English, German, and French.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2008

Reviews

[Qubitng · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly boring examples of concrete dwelling places with very little informative text.

[ZZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book that guides you through examples of how concrete as an architectural material has been applied. One can find buildings and homes of different characters of concrete and the brevity of the descriptions let's the reader focus on the material. Anyone who wishes to build a home can find inspiration in this pages as most of the pages are from surprising abodes. The book which is part of the architecture compact series truly serves its function to have readers get acquainted briefly and pleasurably to the world of concrete.

[Kirill Protasenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple materials and simple forms can create absolutely diverse designs of human abode. Concrete is one of them. What I liked most are resident houses that utilise strict concrete forms to build a unique sense of homeliness.

[Georgia Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

If, like me, you were entranced by the three and a half hour film The Brutalist, then pick up this book for its pictures. While Adrian Brody's architect is fictitious, the buildings on these pages are real. Open anywhere. Feast your eyes. Brutal? Yes. And beautiful.

I first read this sitting in a chic cafe. Soothing as the music on a loop and inspired as the paintings of breasts that floated like balloons above my head, it was a find.

"Liquid stone," as some call it, has been in use since antiquity, I learned. But, hard, often cold, what can be its allure? Compared to wood with its warmth, brick with its merry ruddiness, concrete should have no chance with a romantic like me. Yet, it sweeps me off my feet with these pictures of bridges, homes, even eggs that you can sit inside and still look up at the sky.

I am seduced. Concrete is my Heathcliff. Weathered from birth, standing when others fall, its strength is its beauty. Think of pain poured into poems.