Concrete & Oxford Open Doors

Oxford is an interesting place to live. There is a huge amount going on to suit every interest - the arts & architecture, music, academic courses, world class museums etc etc. I was able to visit two wonderful modern buildings this morning as part of the Open Doors annual event.

The Investcorp Building at St Anthony's College designed by Zaha Hadid
http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/middle-east-centre-st-antonys-college/




& the Blavatnik School of Government designed by Herzog & de Meuron https://www.architecture.com/Awards/Awards2016/RegionalAwards/South/BlavatnikSchoolofGovernment.aspx




This is somehow a very British event all over the UK.  Buildings which are not normally open to the public allow you to wander about & often make huge efforts to put on talks & give interesting information. Who, for example, knew that there is a Concrete Centre which produces "Concrete Quarterly"?

I've always thought that concrete was a really bad building material from an environmental point of view. I've certainly been to places in China & the Middle East for example, which have been completely blighted by cement works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_concrete
However, according to the Concrete centre, it would appear that things have changed quite a lot.
https://www.concretecentre.com/Performance-Sustainability-(1).aspx

Concrete can certainly be a beautiful building material as both these buildings show. What I find uplifting is that fusty Oxford colleges are brave enough to build iconic, thoroughly modern buildings using modern materials, juxtaposed with the old Oxford stone college buildings.

House building companies please take note & stop building dreadful boxes which are a pastiche of old building styles without any of the original building's charm.