Concrete: fabulous – imperfect – a diva
Concrete is a construction material that comes in a wide range of varieties. Despite industrial production, modern technologies and decades of experience, still today no two parts are the same. Concrete remains a natural multicomponent mixture with many fluctuating parameters. The conceptions of and requirements placed on concrete could not be more different. Even designating different color shades – concrete gray, cement gray, stone gray – is associated with an almost infinite number of different conceptions and images; not to mention questions related to surface, texture or structure and to external influences and “development patterns” during the pouring process.
In the day and age of flawless, consistently identical and instantly available mass-produced plastic products, it is becoming increasingly important to honestly and openly communicate the expectations that can be met.
Concrete has numerous talents – but it is not a jack-of-all-trades. Above all, however, it can be beautiful.
Concrete is a diva
Concrete gives you one chance – not a second; there is no safety net. Everything must be perfect at the moment of pouring. Concrete is a reflection of its formwork. Many people know that by now, and they also know that concrete develops cracks and is never homogeneous. But what it really means to wrest “perfection” from this toughest of divas is written nowhere, is communicated only sparsely, and has been my main task to this day – my mission. For Villa Rocca, perfection means getting the best out of concrete while still giving the diva her due. Everything related to craftsmanship must be perfect. The formwork must be accurate to the millimeter, the surfaces clean, the formulation just right, and the ingredients used of top quality. The technical details should be well thought-out, and the form should be perfect. Everything we can influence has to be spot on – one hundred percent. And then – in the final pouring process – the diva gets her due. She is allowed to do whatever she wants – within the parameters of the guardrails we have prepared for her.
