alternative economies for the cement industry

type. research project

stage. five

date. jan 2022

description. ​

This research methods workshop approached material histories of architecture, those of cement and concrete, in a twofold perspective, critically and speculatively, by looking back and by projecting, e.g. encompassing issues like patents and production, codes, standards, specifications, and regulations, commodity, supply and value chains, price mechanisms and economies of scale, carbon and environmental footprint, path dependencies, etc. Materials such as cement and concrete, its production and use, are not given, but has changed over the 20th century, resulting from technological, economic, cultural, social, and ecological conditions. The aim is threefold (a) to understand architecture in a historical and environmental perspective, within a broader context, in relation to the establishment as well as the national and global proliferation of the building materials and construction industry (b) to critically reflect upon the role of architectural practice and of architectural culture, the choices made and the scope for action, and (c) to address and contribute to future imaginaries of architecture.

The basis of this module were key readings on new materialism, and established architectural histories of concrete, an engagement with and presentation of exemplary approaches to environmental histories of building materials, as well as the study and peer-to-peer teaching of theories of landscape and territory, of economies and ecologies of building materials. We also worked on small research projects, studying aspects of cement and concrete history, in ecological, economic, social and cultural terms, ranging from industrial processes, scientific knowledge and legitimization, the implementation of rotary kilns and expansion of production, working conditions and relations in the cement works and on construction sites, construction technology and construction process, cartel formation if not monopolization, architectural and building culture, developing their own voices, eventually in terms of social and environmental justice.

Throughout the workshop we did not just gain new knowledge on material histories, historicizing cement and concrete and material changes, staring from the UK, to tackle global developments; through the lens of this modern construction material we also learned how to pursue architectural and academic research, apply historiographic and geographic approaches, test out analytical tools, use critical concepts, and familiarize ourselves with classic and contemporary approaches in the arts and humanities, natural and social sciences. In addition to mapping, diagramming and timelining, to produce and communicate new knowledge informed by different disciplinary fields we engaged with approaches of architectural and environmental history, in terms of evidence and narrative, and thus other forms of documenting and visualising, of analysing and narrating.

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