Concrete: In Architecture Hardcover – September 3, 2012

This was a gift for a relative, who does a lot of DIY on his property. He told me that though he had expected more text, it was very interesting just to see what has been done using concrete. The book has houses, business buildings, museums, roads, apartment buildings, and Hoover Dam.The photographs are excellent, and the text with each one is informative. Some of the structures were designed by well known architects, some lesser known. A few of the pages are not numbered when the photos take both pages. The index lists projects by name, with page numbers, and architects by name, with page numbers, which means you can search either way. Photographic credits are at the end of the index.The book is 11.75" by 10.25". It is 237 pages without the index. The paper is heavy and glossy.I had flipped through it before I gave it to him, and enjoyed it. I imagine that anyone using concrete would get ideas from the book. However, it is not a text book.I recommend it.

Enjoy this incredible book on "Concrete" structures.Only brief descriptions of the structures are offered though, and no technical data at all, which is a shame. But still "Five Stars" for the books uniqueness and the pictures of the structures are great. (Remember, Ancient Rome would not have been "Ancient Rome" without "Roman" Concrete, whose secret ingredient was the volcanic sands of Mount Vesuvius.)From "Concrete Thoughts" by Leonard Koren at the beginning of the book (no page numbers):"Concrete is a composite of sand, cement, aggregate (crushed rock or pebbles) and miscellaneous additives. (When used structurally - as bearing walls, floors and ceiling - it also contains steel reinforcing rods.) Cement, the binding agent of this admixture, is mainly lime. In order to get lime you have to cook limestone at over 1,400C (2,552F)."On page 344 is a picture of the amazing Geisel Library, the Main Library at U.C.S.D., built in 1970, where I spent a lot time studying in the late 1970's. (If you do go see this incredible building be sure to go back and see it at night when the lights are on, it is amazing.)

This is a cute addition for any bookcase!! Pairs so well with the corresponding retailer sized wood book. Gorgeous pictures and fabulously detailed.

The cover was in good shape, the text was legible, I cannot hold amazon responsible for content. Thanks amazon for making me waste my time writing this review just so you will stop emailing me about it. I feel that the star system is sufficient for rating a book.

Nice photos, good coffee table book. Cover is pretty cool looking, too! The book is divided into structures based on design elements- light, form, etc. Only thing I would have liked is better printing on the photos, they could have been a little better quality. Other than that, a nice photo based book for anyone interested in concrete architecture.

Such a cute little book to put in your backpack, tote bag, or purse. Love the size and the content 😁

Concrete is an incredibly beautiful book. The photographs are stunning and on top of the line pages. The information is well written and interesting. Even the cover is beautiful. My brother is an architect in construction and he LOVED it.

I bought this book for my father (a man who attends an annual "Concrete Banquet") and it could not have been more perfect.Gorgeous photography! Great coffee table book for concrete aficionados and the rest of us!

Paid for an old book edition that is damaged for a new price. Old price is $20 (used) and I paid $35 more than what I received!

Un testo curioso, interessante, ben documentato fotograficamente e con una selezione di edifici non banale.Formato estremamente ridotto, ma così il libro diventa leggibile...Bellissima edizione.Testi succinti, ma preziosi...Per tutti gli amanti del cemento e delle sue più immaginifiche evoluzioni scultoree...

La verdad es que lo compré esperando que era la edición grande rebajado, pero es de esas ediciones reducidas más baratas que hace Phaidon. En mi opinión un libro de esta clase (fotos, sin texto) pierde un poco el sentido en este tamaño. En fin, está bien por el precio.

Phaidon Press are known for elegant and distinctive art and architecture books but this one is good even by its own high standards. The book has a simple premise - rather than acres of text, it assembles a single gorgeous image of each of 150 or so buildings and constructions - given at least a page or many even big double page spreads - each with a clear, concise caption. (In fact the only extensive text occurs in the author's introduction and the accompanying essay by Wabi-Sabi author Leonard Koren, both of which exhort the reader to rethink concrete as a material of beauty rather than stark utility.)The sense of luxury as you turn the pages is palpable - the paper is beautiful, the images are beautiful. Even the cover is beautiful, with an amazing printed-in effect of the wooden mould-made lines in in-situ-cast concrete. And the juxtapositions made by the book's designer are in many cases completely stunning: Westminster Jubilee line station opposite an amazing Japanese print centre that looks almost like an oil rig high above the city; Canary Wharf Jubilee line station opposite Auguste Perret's intense, meditatory concrete church. The real joy of the book is discovering many unusual buildings. Of course the usual suspects are here too - South Bank, Fallingwater, the Pantheon, Trellick Tower, Guggenheim, Villa Savoye, Sydney Opera House. (Though I'm not totally sure that whole building is concrete.) But the most fun are the ones I've never heard of before - Rem Koolhass's "Casa da Musica", Louis Kahn's Bangladesh Parliament, Max Berg's Breslau Centennial Hall: all stunning unforgettable constructions now that I know them.Cooling towers, train stations, fire stations, flak towers, dams, housing estates, oh yes, of course. But also sculptures, Biennale pavilions, chapels, libraries, swimming pools, and luxury clifftop villas: concrete ennobles them all, and this is the book to prove it. Grand spaces are spanned, beautiful organic shapes echoed, and imaginative leaps are made. (It's intriguing how often concrete has been chosen as a material for spiritual or contemplative buildings, with stunning creations here by Le Corbusier, BNKR, Fonseca, Schultes and Frank, Kurokawa, Trahan Architects, Bohm and others.) The best thing about this book is the way it sends you off to explore new avenues of thought: truly inspirational.

Interessante libro che si occupa dei muri con cemento a vista per gli esterni. Buone le qualità delle foto. Spedito in tempi brevi!