Heritage values: Pioneers of Concrete

Since concrete is a newly developed technology, some buildings are valuable for their pioneering condition and experimental character. Technological innovations, new ways of using a material and bringing it to form or implementing it in a building site, new structural forms and strategies, etc., were rehearsed for the first time in buildings that have lasted until today. Long before regulations were established for the use of concrete and its structural capacities were scientifically determined, trial and error were the only way to test the possibilities of a new material. Architects and engineers had to take risks and fight to convince developers of the benefits of concrete. In some countries, the use of concrete was only allowed for secondary typologies such as industrial buildings. In these, the possibilities for developing new technologies and calling attention to its possibilities were scarce. Therefore, the buildings that made use concrete deserve special attention.