Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Concrete has been used in arches, vaults, and domes dating as far back as the Roman Empire. Today, it is everywhere--in our roads, bridges, sidewalks, walls, and architecture. For each person on the planet, nearly three tons of concrete are produced every year. Used almost universally in modern construction, concrete has become a polarizing material that provokes intense loathing in some and fervent passion in others.

Focusing on concrete's effects on culture rather than its technical properties, Concrete and Culture examines the ways concrete has changed our understanding of nature, of time, and even of material. Adrian Forty concentrates not only on architects' responses to concrete, but also takes into account the role concrete has played in politics, literature, cinema, labor-relations, and arguments about sustainability. Covering Europe, North and South America, and the Far East, Forty examines the degree that concrete has been responsible for modernist uniformity and the debates engendered by it. The first book to reflect on the global consequences of concrete, Concrete and Culture offers a new way to look at our environment over the past century.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 7)
• 1 Mud and Modernity (p. 13)
• 2 Natural or Unnatural (p. 43)
• 3 A Medium without a History (p. 79)
• 4 The Geopolitics of Concrete (p. 101)
• 5 Politics (p. 145)
• 6 Heaven and Earth (p. 169)
• 7 Memory or Oblivion (p. 197)
• 8 Concrete and Labour (p. 225)
• 9 Concrete and Photography (p. 253)
• 10 A Concrete Renaissance (p. 279)
• References (p. 299)
• Select Bibliography (p. 321)
• Acknowledgements (p. 323)
• Photo Acknowledgements (p. 325)
• Index (p. 327)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Concrete's origins are in ancient Rome. Here, however, Forty (University College London) focuses on concrete's modern use and cultural effects. As the book indicates, for every person on the planet, the equivalent of three tons of concrete is produced each year; concrete is omnipresent. Following an introduction, the chapters in this volume range from "Mud and Modernity" to "A Medium without a History" to "A Concrete Renaissance." Forty offers a historical account of how concrete has played a part in humans' relationship to their physical surroundings and the global consequences. By taking into account the role concrete has played in areas like politics, literature, cinema, and sustainability, he gives readers a new viewpoint about this material. The book features over 100 black-and-white illustrations portraying a range of concrete edifices from all over the world. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. R. P. Meden Marymount University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Adrian Forty is professor emeritus of architectural history at the Bartlett, University College London. His books include Objects of Desire: Design and Society since 1750 and Words and Buildings: A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture .