| by: Fu-Tung Cheng | | | | dance. My first countertop was a single |
| Concrete is an extraordinary material | | | | piece containing 11 cubic feet of |
| that is practical, expressive, and | | | | concrete. It weighed nearly 1500 pounds |
| aesthetic all at once. From a primal and | | | | and took 10 people-and 2 engine |
| formless slurry, you can transform it | | | | hoists-to turn it over once it had |
| into virtually any shape that becomes a | | | | cured. We barely managed it, but the |
| solid mass. The possibilities for | | | | piece came out beautifully and is still |
| creative expression are endless. You can | | | | being put to good use today. |
| grind, polish, stamp, or stain it. You | | | | Because 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 and | | | | garden paths, or water features. |
| modern settings. It assumes forms that | | | | Concrete can also be used as a floor |
| irrevocably touch our daily | | | | material with enormous creative |
| lives-bridges, highways, floors, | | | | advantages whether seeded, stained, |
| walls... even countertops. Concrete is | | | | stamped, broomed or diamond-finished. It |
| also surprisingly tactile. Cast and | | | | can be a sole performer or play the |
| shaped, it can feel like stone rounded | | | | supporting role to tile, mosaics, |
| by the sea. Textured and colored, it can | | | | decorative aggregates, stone, wood, or |
| echo the patina of timeworn tile. | | | | metal. It is inexpensive, durable, |
| It first occurred to me to make a | | | | noncombustible, impervious to decay, and |
| countertop out of concrete in 1985, when | | | | also very effective for passive solar |
| a friend and I were hired to design and | | | | gain in the right application. |
| renovate a professor's house in the | | | | With vertical treatments, concrete gives |
| Berkeley Hills. He gave us a modest | | | | us an opportunity to recapture some of |
| budget and announced, "This is all I can | | | | the feeling of the monolithic wall-the |
| afford to spend; do whatever you want." | | | | feeling of substance, of protection. |
| Armed with this rare creative license | | | | Walls are also a great place to explore |
| (and plenty of youthful exuberance) we | | | | form. 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, and | | | | can be textured to be rough as stone or |
| explore inevitably led me to experiment | | | | smooth as glass. |
| in my own kitchen, where concrete and I | | | | Surrender to the impulse... carve YOUR |
| began what is now our nearly two-decade | | | | initials in concrete. |