Presenter: Amanda McCaffrey
Mentor: Christina Bollo
Oral Presentation
Major: Architecture
Concrete is the most used substance on the planet second only to water. This thesis explores the trajectory of concrete as a material and how its physical properties, use, and treatment are scantily established among non- designers, resulting in a confused identity. It is a mixture, at the most basic level, of aggregate, cement, and water that when cured, has incredible structural capabilities. As a result of its compressive strength, concrete is widely used for that purpose alone, but it is an incredibly malleable material that new technologies have only begun to explore in recent years. High performance concretes range from lightweight and thin concretes to light transmitting concrete. Concrete as a material is valued by most designers, but there tends to be a disconnect in appreciation and understanding with most non-designers. Concrete’s broad applications as a material and misinformed history have resulted in a lack of a set identity. I began my research by understanding the true history of the material including its accurate origin with the Pyramids of Giza. Categorizing different aspects of its identity developed into a way of explaining and better understanding ‘who’ concrete is. Throughout the research process, it became apparent that a gesture to the public and architectural field, beyond a written essay was needed. That gesture developed into a book which exposes concrete’s true nature as a malleable and diverse material. The book’s format is designed distinctly to appeal to a broad audience with varying levels of interest and knowledge with the goal of redefining an incredibly misunderstood and underappreciated material: concrete. The book demystifies concrete by laying out its process, how and why it’s used, and it’s development as a material.