Concrete? That characterless stuff of parking lots or Communist tower blocks, right? Well, yes. And no. Concrete is actually a name applied to a remarkably wide range of building substances, and, when properly handled, isone of the noble materials of contemporary architecture. A kind of liquid stone at the outset, it is malleable, durable, and capable of prodigious feats of engineering.

This two-volume book highlights the best work done in concrete of recent years. It includes such stars asZaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, andSteven Holl, but also surprising new architects like the RussiansSPEECH, and rising stars of the international scene likeRudy Ricciottifrom France, as well as artists such asJames Turrell, who turned the famous concrete spiral of Frank Lloyd Wrights Guggenheim in New York into the setting of one of his most remarkable pieces.

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