Targeted at concrete: the latest issue of INTRA is now out

The July issue of the magazine INTRO thematically returns to the material that many associate with brutalism and the gray panel housing estates of the socialist era. However, some perceive concrete as a variable substance that, thanks to new formulations and technologies, is poised to become a badge of lightness and creative freedom.

The number of concrete formulations is constantly increasing, and the properties of this material are gradually changing. In the tenth issue of the magazine INTRO dedicated to water, Petr Tej touched on the topic of so-called UHPFRC, or ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete, which is loosely followed in the current issue in an interview with Petr Volf. "Normal concrete usually breaks down after simulating eighty cycles, that is, over eight decades. In contrast, there are no significant changes visible in UHPFRC even after five hundred cycles. That is something absolutely unique," says the architect.

Another interview discusses, among other things, minimalist building with light aggregate concrete – an experimental insulating concrete – and over seven pages presents the work of the father and son Makovský, architects who have a very close relationship with concrete.

An article focused on the use of concrete in the architecture of the 1980s has been prepared by architect and architectural historian Petr Vorlík, who works at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Conversely, you will learn about the current use of concrete, its possibilities, and the products made from it in the corporate section Materials and Technology.

The Chinese porcelain factory BingDing, which also decorates the cover of the new INTRA, is presented by author Tereza Šváchová. The concrete building with a distinctly aesthetically shaped facade from the AZL Architects studio is one of the last porcelain factories in the Fuliang area of southeastern China, where the historical firing of porcelain in a wood-fired kiln has been preserved.

For a domestic realization, this author traveled to the protected landscape area of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids, where there is a weekend house by the studio Pavel Míček Architects. Why did the design only pass through the official from the Protected Landscape Area on the second attempt? And under what circumstances does architect Pavel Míček decide to use concrete for the construction? Answers to these questions and other interesting articles about concrete buildings can be found in the current issue of the magazine INTRO.

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