Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water, cement and aggregate due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a robust stone-like material. In Spain concrete is used to make architectural structures, pavements, pipe, foundations, roads, bridges/overpasses, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles etc - and to make art. The first week of August Judy Farrar held a workshop in Concrete Art at laCultura. Above are some examples of what she showed us:
Jason deCaires Taylor was born in 1974 to an English father and Guyanese mother, spending the earlier part of his life growing up in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.In May 2006 he gained international recognition for creating the world’s first underwater sculpture park in Grenada, West Indies. His underwater sculptures, designed to create artificial reefs for marine life to colonise and inhabit, embrace the transformations wrought by ecological processes. The works engage with a vision of the possibilities of a sustainable future, portraying human intervention as positive and affirmative.
Eduardo Chillida was born in San Sebastian in northern Spain 1924 and is perhaps one of Europe’s most prolific sculptors of the 20th century. His work is installed throughout Europe, Iran, Japan and the United States. In 1984, he and his wife bought the Zabalaga farmhouse in the town of Hernani, just outside of San Sebastian. They would slowly expand the property and restore the farmhouse until it was ready for unveiling as the Chillida-Leku Museum in 2000. Unfortunately, Eduardo died in 2002.
Isac Cordal started the Cement Eclipses project in 2006 in Barcelona. Since then, the mini installations have spread over cities like Berlin, London, Brussels and now, Amsterdam. They are like the three dimensional family members of Claire Harvey’s little lonely characters that she painted on transparent foil; they look somewhat lost in their surroundings too.
A newer addition to Spanish architectural structures made out of concrete is The Barcelona Torre Agbar or Agbar Tower from 2005. It iis a 38-storey tower located between Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer Badajoz, near Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which marks the gateway to the new technological district of Barcelona. It combines several different architectural concepts, resulting in a structure built with reinforced concrete, covered with a facade of glass, with over 4,500 window openings cut out of the structural concrete.
How to make a simple foot stool: