Become a mosaic art expert


Inspirational Ideas for Using Concrete in Your Home

by: Fu-Tung Chengdance. My first countertop was a single
Concrete is an extraordinary materialpiece containing 11 cubic feet of
that is practical, expressive, andconcrete. It weighed nearly 1500 pounds
aesthetic all at once. From a primal andand took 10 people-and 2 engine
formless slurry, you can transform ithoists-to turn it over once it had
into virtually any shape that becomes acured. We barely managed it, but the
solid mass. The possibilities forpiece came out beautifully and is still
creative expression are endless. You canbeing put to good use today.
grind, polish, stamp, or stain it. YouBecause of its adaptability, concrete
can embed meaningful objects within it.finds itself welcome in all areas of the
Concrete has substance and mass,home, especially in the kitchen and
permanence and warmth. It feels earthy,bath, but also in fireplaces, patios,
and is at home in both traditional andgarden paths, or water features.
modern settings. It assumes forms thatConcrete can also be used as a floor
irrevocably touch our dailymaterial with enormous creative
lives-bridges, highways, floors,advantages whether seeded, stained,
walls... even countertops. Concrete isstamped, broomed or diamond-finished. It
also surprisingly tactile. Cast andcan be a sole performer or play the
shaped, it can feel like stone roundedsupporting role to tile, mosaics,
by the sea. Textured and colored, it candecorative aggregates, stone, wood, or
echo the patina of timeworn tile.metal. It is inexpensive, durable,
It first occurred to me to make anoncombustible, impervious to decay, and
countertop out of concrete in 1985, whenalso very effective for passive solar
a friend and I were hired to design andgain in the right application.
renovate a professor's house in theWith vertical treatments, concrete gives
Berkeley Hills. He gave us a modestus an opportunity to recapture some of
budget and announced, "This is all I canthe feeling of the monolithic wall-the
afford to spend; do whatever you want."feeling of substance, of protection.
Armed with this rare creative licenseWalls are also a great place to explore
(and plenty of youthful exuberance) weform. A wall doesn't have to be flat or
aimed to be as innovative as possible.straight, but can curve and undulate. It
This invitation to imagine, play, andcan be textured to be rough as stone or
explore inevitably led me to experimentsmooth as glass.
in my own kitchen, where concrete and ISurrender to the impulse... carve YOUR
began what is now our nearly two-decadeinitials in concrete.



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