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