Modern Architecture
Concrete Masterpieces
Maro Ito - Tokyo-based Urban Architecture Office
In 2013 ,Mari Ito designed the Science Hills museum in Komatsu, Japan, with a wavy concrete roof that integrates the building’s architecture with the land, creating a structure that also serves as a park.
National Museum of Brazil
Modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer’s swoops and arches in reinforced concrete are a testament to the material’s sculptural quality. Niemeyer designed what resembles a planet embedded in the ground, the other half of the sphere created by a reflection in an adjacent pool.
Jubilee Church - Rome
Pritzker Prize–winning architect Richard Meier designed as part of Pope John Paul II's 1993 initiative to reinvigorate parish activity in the city. Three concrete sails, modelled on the half circle, are supported by a square spine. Windows nestled between each of the slabs allow light to fill the volume at varying degrees, depending on the hour.
Santiago Calatrava - Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands
Santiago Calatrava’s auditorium cuts a striking figure against the Atlantic Ocean. Inside the structure, completed by the Spanish architect in 2003, a performance space is enclosed by curving abstract concrete forms.
David Chipperfield - Berlin home and studio
This Berlin home and studio embodies the British architect’s signature spare minimalism amid the 19th-century buildings of the neighbourhood. To expand the five-story brick former piano factory, built in 1895, he created additional space with four concrete volumes. Inside, the walls are left unfinished, resulting in a rough-hewn effect.
The Salk Institute - La Jolla, California
The Salk Institute, a monumental research center designed by Louis Kahn in 1965, is perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, creating a symphony of geometry and shadow. For the two identical six-story buildings that flank a courtyard of imported travertine, Kahn chose poured concrete for its proven durability and low maintenance.