This morning I was thinking about two ideas which oppose each other, kind of. The idea of concrete as a an attempt to create a permanent structure and an idea I remember from a book by Isaac Asimov I read a long long time ago. I remember a world in which things that weren’t used returned to their elements. Knives that weren’t used became dull and eventually turned into crude pieces of metal and wood. Bowls that were not used flattened into circles. Bicycles that weren’t used became unridable. What would a world be like in which everything had to be used in order to retain their shape? We would have a lot less stuff. Perhaps some people would hire someone to wear the shoes they wanted to keep but wouldn’t wear often enough to retain their shape. Keith Richards would have to find people to play his 5,000 guitars so that they didn’t devolve into useless pieces of wood and metal.
Here are a couple of beautiful examples of working with concrete that don’t look heavy or brutalist:
The architecture of Luciano Kruk (homepage), especially this project. The house is beautiful, almost soft and perhaps even light.
Then there is the page of David Umemoto’s Concrete Works, including Spinning Stairs.
I am aware of the environmental impact of concrete. I am also convinced that someone will invent a substance that can take the place concrete. Perhaps instead of pouring it into forms, like concrete, this substance can be grown. The shapes we would see!
Interesting food for thought and Heart…it’s funny how concrete is used to create “permanent” structures, yet is one of the weakest in an earthquake because it is so “permanent ” there is no give, no flexibility, and it crumbles easily.
And about things unused returning to their elements…like our bodies, even non material things like our potential…but what if that rule is more expansive than we fully understand yet? What if the non material things unused began returning to their elements, Yet if someone changed their mind, their beliefs perhaps, anything could be resurrected back into form and useable again…..as if being Renewed, like a cell? What if?
p.s. those concrete homes are stunning in my taste… i love the modern simple elegance…less is more and very Present…almost like a “mansion-version” of a tiny home or a modernized container home! ;% although I would also add a lap pool simultaneously along one of the long angles of the home, creating both balance of the elements (water, fire, wood, earth, metal), AND a healthy and fun part to enjoy daily!
………gotta say too, that bathtub & main bedroom look so inviting! The natural colors and lighting of the home are exquisite! Someone is very lucky to live is such simple, elegant, presence! It FeelsGood!