The Architectural Review #1515

Concrete is the most consumed material on the planet after water, with more than 10 billion tonnes produced each year. Unlike water, it is a human-made product that is wrenched, crushed and sweated out of the environment. Although architects, planners and developers know that the use of concrete must be reduced across the construction industry, its production is instead increasing.

This issue examines the factors that stand in the way of a radical shift away from carbon-intensive building materials such as cement and concrete. It acknowledges their progressive uses in the postwar provision of social housing and public facilities, as seen in the pioneering work of Ítala Fulvia Villa in Argentina and Renée Gailhoustet in France. In many parts of the world, concrete remains a pledge of stability and progress. Formerly a symbol of colonialism, the material has been ‘Africanised’ – as Armelle Choplin argues – and forms part of the socio‑cultural imaginary.

Economies of scale dictate that concrete is still among the cheapest materials to build with, even when it is not necessary or climatically appropriate. There are ways of minimising its ecological impact: in a winery in France, for example, Studio Mumbai and Studio Méditerranée sourced components from demolition and excavation waste, while in Tanzania, concrete blocks used volcanic sand from site. While commendable, these projects are small in scale, and cannot alone challenge the dominance of the concrete industry. As Martha Dillon reminds us, it is the responsibility of a whole ‘ecosystem’ of designers, suppliers, states and regulators to do so.