Concrete matters
Thijs Verster
Concrete matters
Concrete matters It has something poetic, concrete. It is manmade but it has the pureness of a natural material. The smooth but then again rough texture of the surface. And the cold rock-like feeling when you touch it. It has the smell of ancient times. And of course the weight of it, you can almost feel it without touching. It is the anchor to the ground for itself and many others. The process of making is relatively simple. The three elements, water, rock and lime (as the Romans used it) come together to form a pourable material that after hardening can carry the weight of a mountain. And then the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen, Le Corbusiers church in Firminy, France. Only finished in 2006. From the outside the building seems to be sculpted out of concrete. It doesn’t look like a building, especially if you don’t know its purpose. The concrete elements form a structure that has the looks of a solid futuristic sculpture. Inside the building the space that he created is astonishing. 136
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Thijs Verster