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Carbon textile-reinforced concrete is a composite of high-performance materials that is corrosion-resistant, thin, light, resource-friendly and environmentally friendly. It provides a basis for long-term endurance in construction, both in new buildings and in renovation or repair. Longevity and economic viability are two essential factors at which the construction industry, as well as research, politics and environmental associations, have demonstrated a keen interest.
The world’s longest immersed road and rail tunnel design, the Fehmarnbelt link gets a go-ahead. The 18 km infrastructure, the longest of its kind, connecting Denmark’s Lolland Falster region with Germany’s Schleswig Holstein region across the Baltic Sea will shorten the journey between both countries to just 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train.
In the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, several construction techniques were used to allow such a bold construction to stand. One concerns the composition of the concrete (in this case, non-reinforced concrete) with different densities throughout the structure. Closer to the top, lighter stones were used in the mixture, reducing the dome's weight retaining the solidity of the base. Another technique was the inclusion of “coffers”, which are nothing more than subtractions in the concrete, reducing the weight of the dome while maintaining a cross section sufficiently robust to support its own weight. Built almost 1,900 years ago, this building still surprises us with the genius of the solutions. Using a quantity of materials just high enough to fulfill its primary function, and creating intelligent structures as a result, is just one of the lessons that this building provides.
MAD Architects has just released its design for the Wormhole Library, a curved structure that serves as a multi-functional building, allowing visitors to read, enjoy the sea views and attend open-air performances. Located on the coast in Haikou, Hainan Province in China, the “wormhole” pavilion is now under construction and is expected to be completed in 2021.
ArchDaily has created a list of best articles, news and projects that address everything you need to know about concrete.
Skating took root as a sport in California during the 1960s and 70s, a time when extreme activities like surfing found their niche among the United States populace. Beginning as an urban adaptation of surfing, skateboarding became the pastime of choice for adolescents and, by the 1980s, acquired a worldwide following. Soon, city-scapes across the globe began transforming as spaces were created for people to engage in this uniquely urban sport.
The Cultural Center was designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer and named after him. It is located in the city of Goiânia in the state of Goiás, Brazil, and was built on a 26 thousand square meter flat land called Esplanada da Cultura, a square dedicated to concerts and events, paying homage to former President Juscelino Kubitschek. The complex consists of four geometrically pure buildings: a rectangle that holds a public library, a cylinder where the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) is located, a dome that shelters the Music Palace, and a 36-meter-high pyramid that houses the Human Rights Monument.
With its wide range of applications and cosmetic properties, concrete is having a moment in the world of architecture. Today, thanks to the ever-moving stream of innovation in concrete production and application, optimal results are now the norm rather than the exception. For architects and builders alike, concrete is an opportunity to explore and experiment with tones and textures, ensuring that there is something for every design and project.
Peter Zumthor, in one of his most emblematic works, gives concrete an almost sacred dimension. The work in question is the small Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, located in a small village in Germany, a construction that is both robust and sensitive. Built with white cement, which was mixed with stones and sand from the region, the chapel is composed of 24 layers of concrete that were poured day after day by local labor, and compressed in an unusual way. The building's flat and smooth exterior contrasts with its interior, which was initially made of inclined wooden logs forming a triangular void. To remove these internal forms, the logs were set on fire in a controlled process, reducing them to ash and creating a carbonized interior that varied between black and gray and retained the texture of the negatives of the logs. The result is a masterpiece of architecture, a space for reflection and transformation, in which the same material appears in diametrically opposing ways.
It's no secret that concrete has one of the highest CO2 emissions of all building materials, making it a focal point for architects looking to innovate and experiment with it as a way to optimize its production and application in construction while decreasing its environmental impact. This exploration of elements such as concrete's thermal inertia, which could serve to make buildings more energy efficient, as well as its durability, which guarantees a long-lasting, zero- maintenance structure even in the most extreme of climates. The ultimate goal is to create luminous living spaces with natural ventilation while simultaneously exploring the possibility of reusing frameworks as a way of cutting costs and streamlining the building process.
As cliché as it may sound, there are two things that architects really like: exposed concrete and the color black. While concrete offers a distinctive rough aesthetic, emphasizing the tones, textures, and surfaces that shape the concrete mixture, the sobriety that the color black provides allows the architect to highlight specific characteristics precisely. Combining the two seems natural. But black pigmented concrete is not as common as we might imagine. Below we talk a little about the black concrete production process and some projects that use it.
In addition to their aesthetic appeal, the use of raw materials can save resources by bypassing the use of additional coatings and processes. This type of solution was most commonly used in utility buildings, such as infrastructure, factories, and warehouses. Exposed concrete floors, for example, were primarily found in industrial spaces, parking lots, and gas stations. However, they are increasingly being used in structures of different programs due to their appearance, durability, resistance, and vast possibilities for finishes. But what are the main factors to be aware of when using a concrete floor for a project?
The history of architecture shows that the use of raw materials has always been somewhat common, whether in ancient vernacular techniques or within the Brutalist movement, to name a few. It is evident that the language of a project is often linked to its material, as various sensations and the perception of space are directed by the aesthetic and physical quality of the given element. For this reason, we have gathered ten buildings that highlight the quality of their materials, whether to make a statement, reinterpret a technique from the past, or to re-signify the potency of some of these elements.
Having been utilized as early as the Roman era in buildings of almost every scale, it is almost impossible to think of a building that does not have at least one concrete element. In fact, it is the most widely used construction material in the world, due to its versatility, resistance, ease of handling, accessibility, aesthetics, and other factors. At the same time, its manufacture is also one of the main polluters in the atmosphere, mainly due to the fact that the cement industry emits around 8% of all global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).
In addition to its intensive production, concrete is an extremely rigid material, heavy and composed of cement, water, stone, and sand. Thus, would it be possible to continue to use concrete sustainably after demolition, eliminating its disposal as mere waste and overloading landfills?
The Tehran Eye is a contextual shopping center that caters to the needs and the common living practices in the Iranian capital. The project, conceived by Farshad Mehdizadeh Design, consisted of redesigning a façade and reorganizing a large existing structure into an integrated entity in the city.
Concrete is not purely a structural element. As we demonstrated in a recent article about kitchen projects using concrete countertops, the material is gaining significant traction in the world of residential furnishings and fixtures. To further exemplify this, we have curated a list of several projects that use concrete benches to create beautiful moments inside and outside the home.
Last April, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York announced plans to introduce a bill that would ban the construction of new all-glass buildings. Part of a larger effort to reduce citywide greenhouse emissions by 30 percent, other initiatives included using clean energy to power city operations, mandatory organics recycling, and reducing single-use plastic and processed meat purchases. The announcement came on the heels of the city council passing the Climate Mobilization Act, a sweeping response to the Paris Climate Agreement that included required green roofs on new constructions and emissions reductions on existing buildings.
