July 2016
BETON BRUT CONCRETE SHELF
The Beton Brut Concrete Shelf is a material study of concrete and how it relates to the form language of brutalism. The piece serves to elevate the user's screen to a more ergonomic level while creating a new desk space.
Exploring Concrete
Material
Concrete is traditionally a mixture of cement, aggregate, and water. In this project I explore how concrete has evolved as a material to become much more than a construction foundation.
Form
In its purest form concrete is a rigid and unforgiving material. Brutalism embraces that nature and expresses it in unapologetic rectilinear forms and exposed pure faces.
Function
In most of its uses concrete is a structural material used in construction, often built on and seldom enjoyed for its character. I wanted to use concrete in a piece of furniture that would be directly interacted with every day.
Concrete as a Craft
Mark Melonas taught a class on craft concrete at the Penland School of Crafts. Mark is a Baltimore based craftsman who is part of a group of people that are working to make concrete a more flexible and sustainable material. The concrete used in this piece doesn’t need to use metal reinforcement for strength, instead glass fibers are added during the mixing process. This means that the concrete can be laid in thinner and lighter ways.
Beton Brut
Le Corbusier first coined the term Beton Brut in 1962 and since then Brutalism has become a widely embraced architectural style. It is defined by exposed and unrefined concrete faces, utilitarian rectilinear forms, and an embracing of the perfect imperfection of the concrete forming process. With this piece I wanted to distill and adapt these properties into a small functional piece of furniture.
Smart Use of Small Spaces
People are living in smaller and smaller spaces, which calls for clever solutions for saving space. The desk is often a space that becomes cluttered and unusable very quickly, especially when storage is limited.
I wanted to create a piece that will help the user to improve desk organization, save space, and improve comfort. Existing desk shelves are unattractive due to cheap material choice and questionable build quality.
Embracing Perfect Imperfection
During form exploration and sketching I focused on the unbroken rectilinear surfaces and hard angles that are common in brutalism. I settled on a purely rectilinear form as it offered the most additional desk space while also being the simplest distillation of brutalist architecture.
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Apollo Pavillion 4
Stacked
Concretus
Nakagin Capsule Tower
Japanese Concrete Structure
Sketching allowed me to explore and communicate a variety of forms quickly. While more organic forms that defy concrete's traditional form language were considered, the hard lines and sheer uninterrupted faces of brutalist structures couldn't be ignored. In the end the simplest and most functional of the explored forms was carried forward.
Final Product
The final product for this project was cast by first spraying a face coat onto a mold and the pressing the glass fiber reinforced concrete as a backer. This allows the surface that the user interacts with the be smooth to the touch while retaining the visual texture of rough concrete. Part of the challenge of this project was learning how concrete in its various forms acts and reacts to the craftsman and the environment. This often results in imperfections which give the piece its unique character.
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A sealant and a light polish create a surface that retains the concrete’s imperfect look, while strengthening the part that comes in contact during daily use.
The shelf creates a space to store objects and tools to reduce clutter and free space on the desk.
The surface of the shelf raises the monitor to a more ergonomic level, reducing neck strain.
The texture of the concrete is emphasized on the sides and rear of the piece.
The space under the shelf can accommodate most things that are commonly found on a desk.
A hole cast in the rear of the shelf guides and hides wires, further reducing clutter.