From majestic museums to alpine retreats, tough and humble concrete has always performed well.

Concrete, which is frequently associated with the utilitarian and not the beautiful, can provide a startling range of architectural outcomes.

The common building material can be molded into almost any shape, allowing structures to exist in both curvilinear and stark geometric forms, whether they are used for private dwellings, like David Chipperfield’s Berlin home and studio, or even an entire city, like Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret’s Chandigarh in India.

To begin with, the history of concrete is so old that we aren’t even sure when and where it started. It is a tale of exploration, experimentation, and intrigue. Emperors and kings built magnificent concrete constructions that are still a mystery to engineers today, turning them into legends.

Slabs of the gray building material inspired many of history’s most talented architects. The technology was progressed by regular bricklayers, and the creation of concrete formulas was significantly aided by a con artist.

Today, everything from roads and sidewalks to bridges and dams is made of concrete. The phrase itself has grown to be associated with something substantial and palpable.

Put your name in history by leaving your handprints on the pavement. The tale of concrete is told here. 

 

The First Cement—and Potentially Concrete?

Cement and concrete are two different materials, so let’s get that out of the way right now. Concrete also contains water, sand, and gravel in addition to cement, a compound made of powdered limestone and clay.
Archeological evidence suggests the usage of what they are calling proto-concrete in the Romans through Egyptian times. The world’s first stadium as we know it today The Colosseum has a disproportionate amount of bricks & concrete.
And for more than a thousand years concrete was lost in the Dark Ages.
It may sound like a plot straight out of some Hollywood movie, but it is true, concrete did make a comeback in the early 19th Century. And, since then it has made its major contributions to shaping our today & tomorrow.

The Sticking Marvels of Concrete Around The World

• The utopian city of Chandigarh, created in post-independence India by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in 1947, was primarily made of concrete. The tall sculpture at the Palais de l’Assemblée’s entry contrasts with the structure’s overall linear concrete columns. The building is situated on a reflecting pool.
• The Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc finished the Cidade das Artes in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, and from its top terrace, you can see both the mountains and the sea. The curved concrete walls, which pay homage to Brazilian modernist architecture from the middle of the 20th century, provide visual contrast between expansive shape and empty space.
• In La Jolla, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Salk Institute, a massive research facility designed by Louis Kahn in 1965, creates a symphony of geometry and shadow.
• Kahn selected poured concrete for the two similar, six-story buildings because of its shown longevity and ease of upkeep. They surround a courtyard made of imported travertine.
• The Science Hills museum in Komatsu, Japan, was built in 2013 by Mari Ito of the Tokyo-based Urban Architecture Office. The structure doubles as a park thanks to its wavy concrete roof, which combines the building’s architecture with the surrounding landscape.
• The theater designed by Santiago Calatrava stands out against the Atlantic Ocean in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Curving abstract concrete shapes enclose a performance space inside the building, which the Spanish architect finished in 2003.
• The trefoil-shaped Clover House made of reinforced concrete by Felipe Escudero was designed with the Andes Mountains in mind and built there in Ecuador in 2012.
• Each “leaf” of the building has a sizable window that allows in the most light and frames a section of the landscape like a picture.

The list is quite long just like the applications of concrete. And the fact that the toughest buildings around the world rely on concrete like The Pentagon, Sydney Opera House, & Hoover Dam shows there may be ways to enhance the renowned gray building material amid the concrete jungle of the twenty-first century.


Hindustan Infrastructure Solution is an Ahmedabad-based RMC manufacturer that has been playing its part in building & shaping tomorrow with the help of concrete. We are continuously innovating with the help of our well-established R & D team who is constantly making technological advancements in RMC.