A cornerstone of architectural innovation for centuries, concrete has transformed the structural capabilities of buildings worldwide. As one of the more versatile and durable building materials, concrete has aided architects and engineers in pushing the traditional boundaries of design. Today, it is the most widely used construction material on the planet. According to the Guardian, concrete is also a “lifestyle concept,” using its “gritty, urban” aesthetic to shape the imagination of all our architectures at every scale.
In this week’s curated selection of unbuilt projects submitted by the ArchDaily community that champion the use of concrete, many scales of the material are explored. Illia Sadek presents The Guggenheim Museum of Tehran, using concrete as the core structural material. However, the Barangaroo Pier Pavilion appears not to use much of the material, but it is constructed of HPLC, high-performance lightweight concrete. Whether it is a modern villa retreat in Japan or a chapel with volumetric masses in Portugal, the material has been used in many ways worldwide.
