Concrete is beautiful and, and, and…

Concrete can be underestimated. Some people, for good reason, focus more on the functional aspect of the material that can create roads, bridges, houses and dams. Others use brutalist as the main word to describe concrete buildings, but in fact, concrete is a beautiful material. Its innate properties of strength and versatility have led it to create some of the best and most beautiful architecture of our time.  

 In Zaha Hadid’s Heyder Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan, we see concrete at its most beautiful. Built to establish a fluid relationship with the surrounding Plaza and building’s interior, the curved building shows not only concrete’s beauty but the remarkable way it can form any shape. Concrete is popular with architects because it can be moulded into an infinite number of shapes and maintain its strength. 

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is a global showcase of concrete and now beloved by people around the world, although this was not always the case. It originally drew controversy for the unusual form of its display spaces, but now the building is an icon in New York city. Frank Lloyd Wright designed this stunning circular building with an interior featuring a spiralling ramp, it is concrete’s versatility that enables this design. 

As well as beautiful, our essential material can also be sustainable. We recently visited the Torre Reforma Tower, an iconic angular earthquake resilient skyscraper in Mexico City which is supported by two large concrete walls. The concrete structural and architectural facades are inspired by the prominence of stone or concrete in Pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexican architecture. We were honoured to be shown round by the building award-winning architect L. Benjamin Romano to look closer at sustainability and resilience in action. The building was the winner of the 2018 International Highrise Award for the world's best skyscraper and has LEED Platinum® sustainability certification. 

Concrete is used in every continent of the world – here are just a few examples of buildings I love. 

No. 4 Bourdillon in Lagos Nigeria, shows sleek modern curved architecture that can be achieved by concrete. This photo was taken by Maxwell Osabo and in the Urban Concrete shortlist of our Concrete in Life 2024/25 competition. 

Valley, in Amsterdam, Netherlands shows how concrete can be used to build with creativity. This photo was taken by Artemio Layno and was the Concrete in Life Concrete Beauty and Design winner 2024/25. 

The awarding winning Lotus Temple, New Delhi is facilitated by its reinforced concrete structure that is clad with Grecian marble.  

The iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai, UAE. This photo by Lemuel Louie Batingan was in the Concrete in Life Urban Concrete shortlist in 2021. 

We cannot of course forget the world famous the Sydney Opera House, which shows the best of precast concrete.

We are delighted that so many architects and designers enjoy working with concrete. Indeed, it is important that we work with them and encourage even greater efficiency of concrete – to maximise its benefits. In fact ‘Efficiency in design and construction’ is a key lever in our 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. Reduction of CO2 emissions must become a design parameter in addition to the current parameters of quality, cost, speed and specific project client requirements.  

Lower carbon cement and concrete are becoming more available – but it is vital that the demand for these materials stimulates or keeps driving forward supply. Additionally, designers of buildings or infrastructure, with the support of clients, can already achieve CO2 emission reductions through their choices of aspects such as concrete floor slab geometry and system, the choice of the concrete column spacing and the optimisation of concrete strength/element size/reinforcement percentage. All these approaches can be achieved whilst still obtaining all the performance benefits of concrete construction, showing how concrete is strong, durable, resilient. 

If you want to see more beautiful uses of concrete check out our annual Concrete in Life photography competition which launches its 7th edition Wednesday 17 September with a $10,000 top prize! 

Last year we received over 20,000 photos from around the world and can’t wait to see the photos this year. 

Find out more at https://gccassociation.org/concreteinlife/