Stories deur Rieder

In architectural terms, given the time it takes to complete a large-scale project, ten years isn't that long. All the more remarkable therefore that Austrian manufacturer Rieder's innovative wonder material fibreC – fabricated from concrete and glass fibre – has been specified widely, introducing a new language in exteriors and interiors.

Staircases are overdetermined things. A highly functional element in the internal circulation of a building, they are also laden with cultural and psychological symbolism. We may live in the age of the lift and escalator, but this hasn’t stopped architects using the staircase as a means of adding value to spaces, be it through their aesthetic or engineering virtuosity. It’s not the destination that counts but the getting there.

In the second part of our 'Concrete in Architecture' series, Architonic shows how concrete certainly doesn't have to be grey. From delicate tones to high luminosity, it can take on a wide range of chromatic and emotional complexions. In the following article, Architonic presents a number of techniques that lend concrete colour.

Almost no other material manages to carry such contradictory associations. Stigmatised on the one hand, celebrated on the other, it evokes highly diverse reactions. The word 'concrete' was used for the first time in 1750 by Bernard Forêst de Bélidor as a description for a mortar, in his book 'Architecture hydraulique'. The first ferroconcrete structures were built around 1900. Today, reinforced concrete is Germany's most important building material, with over 100 million cubic metres of it used every year. Its potential seems almost inexhaustible and continual innovations in how it's applied make it a valuable material for new architecture concepts. What follows is a look at concrete, related new technologies and a selection of interesting projects that have embraced these.

Nur mehr 80 Tage: Fassadenmontage am WM-Stadion in Johannesburg geht in die Endrunde

Two weeks ago 'Betonwerk Rieder' celebrated its fifty years of existence as a company with an out-of-the-ordinary party in the Maishofen auction hall. 'RollingStone'.

The British star architect Zaha Hadid has chosen glass fibre reinforced concrete from the Austrian company Rieder to envelope the 275 meters long „Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion“, the new symbol of the Expo 2008 in the northern Spanish Zaragoza.