Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-322) and index
Contents:
Mud and modernity -- Natural or unnatural -- A medium without a history -- The geopolitics of concrete -- Politics -- Heaven and earth -- Memory or oblivion -- Concrete and labour -- Concrete and photography -- A concrete renaissance
Summary:
"'Concrete and culture' breaks new ground by charting concrete's effects on culture since its reinvention in the modern period, examining the ways it has changed our understanding of nature, of time and of materiality. This book discusses architects' responses to and uses of concrete while also taking into account the role it has played in politics, literature, cinema and labour relations, as well as in present-day arguments about sustainability ... 'Concrete and culture' is a uniquely innovative historical account of the part played by an often despised substance in people's relationships to their physical surroundings."--The inside cover