Le béton dans l'art contemporain / Concrete In Contemporary Art / Beton in Der Zeitgenössischen Kunst – Vol. 1

“Why should it seem to form such an unnatural union to associate concrete with beauty? Stone and bronze are linked in our minds with ancient history, and recall different civilisations. Concrete, though, is completely new, and so it has “the natural right of present over the past.” What we intend to do here is to try to show, by means of the examples chosen, that concrete, in just the same way as steel, has earned its place in the plastic arts. We have based ou research mainly on what may properly be referred to sculpture, and on reliefs and the way they have been integrated into architecture. We have, however, also covered very extensively the environmental works which have brought the plastic quality to planned open spaces and public spaces. And lastly we have considered those typical works of our civilization, the monumental creations of artists working in collaboration with constructional engineers.”
(Marcel Joray, foreword)