Those of us who endured university classes in modernist mid-20th century buildings, came to respect the brutality of concrete. Concrete forms can make an English lecture feel like a four hour trip to solitary confinement. (I’m talking about the humanities building. On Wisconsin.) What you probably didn’t know is that concrete’s deathless appearance is all show. There are serious technical difficulties with concrete construction:
Mechanical failures showed up in mid-century concrete wall sections almost immediately, but the chemical changes that affect the walls’ integrity and longevity are more insidious and these were slower to emerge. The technical aspects of restoring concrete are especially challenging when compared with brick and stone, as concrete walls contain embedded steel, and steel’s corrosion can be destructive in many ways. Concrete restoration is also difficult aesthetically. Unfortunately today, the escalating default response for many building owners and their consultants is to apply elastomeric coatings over entire concrete facades, changing their appearance in a way that undermines the façade’s character and significance. Poorly conceived and executed repairs only amplify this trend.
