1,688 words
Over the last few months, I’ve been working as an unskilled construction helper for a local contractor who specializes in backyard decks among all sorts of other things. I ended up working for him by happenstance. I’m surprised he even hired me, given that I have no experience. (more…)
4,453 words
Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 here)
It is during and after the First World War that reinforced concrete was incorporated into political programs as a “progressive” building material. The Futurist Antonio Sant’Elia inspired an entire generation of so-called “brutalists”: Le Corbusier, Buckminster Fuller, and members of the movement called De Stijl. Jappe cites Futurist proponents of concrete cities: (more…)
4,509 words
Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)
Anselm Jappe
Béton: Arme de construction massive du capitalisme
Paris: Éditions L’échappée, 2020
Ask any thinking people what they consider to be the most dramatic and long-lasting changes in the world over the last hundred years, and a wide variety of responses may be expected, ranging from demographic shifts to the atomic bomb, (more…)