Concrete

Cast, precast and low-carbon concrete.

15 entries

Concrete pools and walls with bronze railings integrated into a rocky coastline at sunset.

Materials & Makers

Water as the Building Material: Siza's Tidal Pools at Leça da Palmeira

At Leça da Palmeira, Álvaro Siza's Piscina das Marés exemplifies an architecture intrinsically linked to its environment, where the Atlantic ocean defines the pools' operation.

6 Sept 2026

Concrete modernist house with green roof and planted terraces, viewed from a stone wall foreground.

Light & Atmosphere

Fondation Maeght: Concrete Sails for Light and Art

Explore the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a 1964 masterwork by Josep Lluís Sert where architecture and art converge, illuminated by strategically captured natural light.

4 Sept 2026

Brutalist concrete staircase with black handrails and blue inlaid floor, viewed from the bottom looking up.

Colour & Palette

Lina Bo Bardi: Orchestrating Sound at SESC Pompéia

Lina Bo Bardi’s SESC Pompéia complex in São Paulo demonstrates a deliberate integration of material, space, and auditory design within an industrial framework.

3 Sept 2026

White concrete seaside structure with an open doorway and low wall, overlooking a rocky coast and blue ocean.

Visual Essay

Álvaro Siza: Leça Pools and the Provenance of Form

Álvaro Siza's Leça swimming pools integrate architecture with the Atlantic coast through precise material selection and a site-responsive design approach.

29 Aug 2026

Concrete staircase with bold blue tiled walls and railings winding upwards, seen from below.

Details That Matter

Zeitz MOCAA: Carving the Silos of Cape Town

The Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town repurposes forty-two concrete grain silos into a contemporary art museum, demonstrating a radical approach to adaptive reuse.

25 Aug 2026

A white concrete spiral staircase with a metal handrail rises through a multi-story interior space with windows.

Light & Atmosphere

Concrete Shells in Lisbon: Acoustic Logic of Renaissance Labs

Lisbon’s architectural history reveals a persistent interest in formwork and material expression. Concrete shells, emerging from this tradition, offer precise acoustic control in research environments.

25 Aug 2026

White concrete interior looking through an open door to a minimalist white outdoor patio and water feature under clear sky.

Daily Line

Zurich’s Hydrologic Veil: Passive House with Anodised Aluminium and Water

This Zurich passive house demonstrates precision in material application, marrying advanced thermal performance with traditional water features and a stark white aesthetic.

20 Aug 2026

Modern building with dark timber and textured concrete walls, reflecting in a black tiled ground and water feature.

Future Living

The Singapore Baroque Institute: Concrete Shells and Reflected Light

The Singapore Baroque Institute employs precise concrete shells and rammed earth formwork to create a contemporary research environment, integrating water features as central design elements. Its design in black basalt and charred cedar reflects a new approach to tropical architecture.

13 Aug 2026

Concrete stairway with blue painted walls and railings leads to a blue door.

Biophilic & Wellness

Blue Shells of Helsinki: Material Honesty and Air Quality in Research Architecture

Helsinki’s concrete-shell research laboratories synthesize ancient structural principles with modern material honesty, prioritizing indoor air quality through precision steel detailing and non-toxic material choices. This approach addresses off-gassing and VOCs.

15 Jul 2026

Modern building facade featuring white textured concrete and smooth white panels, punctuated by vertical glass windows and me

Field Notes

Carbon-Fibre Pavilion: Tactility in London's Low-Carbon Concrete

The New London Architecture (NLA) Pavilion, designed by Newtecnic, exemplifies a modern synthesis of advanced materials and haptic design principles, recalling Romanesque tactile qualities.

4 Jul 2026

Concrete architectural interior with tall windows and a low handrail, showcasing Formwork Logic and textured walls.

Construction Diaries

Formwork Logic: The Provisional Architecture of Concrete

Formwork is the temporary structure that shapes liquid concrete, dictating its final form, surface, and integrity. It is an unseen architecture.

18 Jun 2026

Concrete interior with geometric sunbeams on the right wall and stairs leading up in the back left, utilizing thermal mass.

Daily Line

Thermal Logic: The Architecture of Density

Thermal mass utilizes material density to create thermal lag, a passive logic that manages energy by synchronizing a building's weight with the sun.

15 Jun 2026

Alpine Architecture: a concrete mountain shelter with a glass facade, nestled into a snow-covered slope, against rocky peaks.

Architecture Travel

Alpine Tectonics: The Logic of the Monolithic Mountain

Beyond the timber chalet: exploring the shift toward monolithic concrete, thermal mass, and topographical integration in the Alps of South Tyrol and Switzerland.

2 Feb 2026

A close-up view of a dark geopolymer concrete wall showing subtle texture and panel seams with natural light.

Material Notes

Mineral Logic: The Synthesis of Geopolymer Concrete

Explore the structural and chemical logic of geopolymer binders, the low-carbon alternative to Portland cement derived from industrial waste.

30 Jun 2025

Sydney Opera House architecture with white tiled sails over brown concrete and glass, seen from the water below.

Global Icons

Geometric Icon: The Rationality of the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is more than a silhouette. We examine the 'Spherical Solution' that turned Utzon’s sketches into a masterclass of prefabrication.

9 Dec 2024

Nearby topics

Timber Rammed earth Brick Stone Lime & plaster Terracotta & tile Steel Copper, zinc & aluminium