‘Concrete is actually a very old material. The Romans even used it. But it’s still contemporary. Recent developments concerning the strength, weight and durability are prompting innovative applications of this material. One property of concrete that has hardly been studied is its transparency. Transparency not in the literal sense of a property possessed by glass for example, but transparency in the spatial sense: opacity.

Apart from the historical reason to reconsider concrete opacity, there are more contemporary issues such as insulation and sustainability to be introduced, parameters that are reopening the chapter in ‘opacity’ with contemporary architecture. In most cases this is achieved by working with various types of glass and metal, but I think it should also be possible by using concrete. Combining such a notion of opacity with the inherent plastic character of concrete could lead to an interesting play in which spatial definitions such as dimensions, depth and orientation could be linked to material properties such as weight, colour and texture.’

Hanif Kara, curator

The Concrete Design Book on plastic-OPACITY documents all laureate's competition entries as well as the Master Class results. Furthermore it continues the investigation into plastic-OPACITY through interviews and essays.

You can obtain a copy of the Concrete Design Book on plastic-OPACITY through the national secretaries (as long as available). 

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