History of Concrete

Concrete is one of the most commonly used building materials, and many famous sights could not exist without it. In this episode we give you an overview on the history of the material and explain why it has been so successful. We discuss how it is made and used and talk about some famous examples.

Gallery

The ribbed shell of Pier Luigi Nervi's Palazzetto dell Sport in Rome (IT)

A shell by Heinz Isler in Geneve (CH)

More pictures

Links & Show-Notes

Part 1: From antiquity to the early XX century.

• A nice video on the different behaviour of concrete in tension and compression.
• Another video on prestressing and how it works.
• Wikipedia entry on François Hennebique.
• Wikipedia entry on the church Notre-Dame du Raincy by August Perret. The Church of St. Joseph in Le Havre is quite similar in style.

Episode Chapters

Part 1: From antiquity to the early XX century.

• 00:01:40.000 What is Concrete?
• 00:05:21.000 Ancient Rome
• 00:11:18.000 Clay
• 00:12:15.000 Modern Cement
• 00:15:32.000 Compression and Tension
• 00:19:33.000 Reinforced Concrete
• 00:22:15.000 Hennebique
• 00:24:00.000 The shape of concrete
• 00:30:39.000 Notre-Dame du Raincy
• 00:31:50.000 Design Approaches
• 00:33:59.000 Palazzetto dello Sport
• 00:37:33.000 Prestressing
• 00:41:16.000 Shells

Part 2: The modern movement.

• 00:01:43.000 1920s and 1930s
• 00:03:17.000 Freyssinet
• 00:05:25.000 Shells
• 00:14:36.000 Formwork
• 00:17:17.000 India
• 00:23:57.000 Le Corbusier
• 00:29:06.000 Concrete as decoration
• 00:32:07.000 Unitè d'Habitation
• 00:37:22.000 Brazil
• 00:41:23.000 Ferrocement
• 00:45:28.000 Italy
• 00:48:55.000 Chiesa dell'autostrada
• 00:50:50.000 Perception of Concrete
• 00:56:01.000 Japan