Research & Innovation

Jean-Louis Cohen (architect, professor, Institute of Fine Arts, New York), Bruno Lafont (CEO and Chairman of Lafarge), Jacques Lukasik (Scientific Affairs SVP, Lafarge), Rudy Ricciotti (architect), Marc Mimram (architect-engineer), Mark Wigley (Dean, GSAPP, Columbia) and Steven Holl (architect, GSAPP, Columbia).

A mixture of sand, cement and water, concrete is apparently very simple. And yet until recently simply a convenient material tested empirically, concrete is now a product which is studied scientifically in the lab and which reveals considerable development potential.

Concrete has entered a new high-tech era:

• The ingredients of concrete are natural, living raw materials, and research into their interactions requires a range of scientific skills and very elaborate instruments.

• Concrete is manufactured to order and exists in more than 500 different formulas, all produced with consistent quality in cutting-edge factories. These formulas make it possible to offer customers different concrete in terms of resistance, workability, appearance, hardening time, etc.

• Concrete is used in the largest art works all around the world: bridges resistant to the strongest winds, tower blocks with the most effective anti-earthquake constructions, the most innovative architectural achievements, etc.

The research also aims for a better understanding of concrete as a material integrated into the system of construction. Avoiding cold bridges, reducing the energy consumption of buildings, optimizing the recycling and demolition of constructions: these are all factors which make concrete the best ally in sustainable construction.

And what about the future? The properties of the concrete of the future seem infinite: it will be self-cleaning, able to capture pollution and CO2, totally recyclable, it will be more resistant to weather erosion and even be able to repair itself, and able to change color depending on whether it is lit naturally or artificially... Anything seems possible!

Concrete's appeal lies not only in its mechanical properties and its competitive price. From its manufacture in factories to its recycling following the demolition of a building, via use on construction sites, concrete is also a green material.

Even the most traditional concrete has a limited environmental footprint:

• Concrete is a natural local product: sourced from natural resources, it is produced locally and transported over short distances, thereby avoiding pointless CO2 emissions. It does not emit any toxic fumes - a real advantage for workers and local communities!

• Concrete can be almost infinitely re-used: It can be made from recycled materials and is itself recyclable.

• Concrete has a very favorable carbon and energy footprint since, being a simple mixture, it uses little energy to manufacture and put to use.

• Concrete is used in the construction of ecological buildings, which are low consumers of heating and air-conditioning, as a result of its properties of thermal inertia, acoustic comfort, water-resistance, etc. Used underwater, for bridges for example, it is also safe in the marine environment.

As a result of its ambition to collaborate with the world of architecture and align itself with reflection on urbanization on the fringes of the commercial sector, Lafarge wants to offer new solutions for construction with a reduced ecological footprint and an enlarged social role. This is the key challenge in its partnership approach with the world of architecture.

In the context of the study carried out by Marc Mimram, Ductal® ultra-high performance concrete appears to be the ideal physical solution for creating the engineer-architect's light and inventive forms.

View the exclusive interview with Marc Mimram in images!

"Living infrastructure": that is what engineer-architect Marc Mimram is offering in his study carried out in partnership with Lafarge. Generally poorly perceived, infrastructure is too often experienced as a necessary evil in cities. It is time to reconcile infrastructures and inhabitants!

Bridges, the ultimate infrastructure, lend themselves to the principle of this study. Marc Mimram proposes four innovative bridges suited to specific cities:

• The " Landscape Bridge" in La Courneuve, France. The city, cut off from its park by a motorway, is typical of the unhealthy situation of suburbs whose living areas and centers are cut off from each other. Only breaking down the divide, with a rural aspect here, will enable this opening up which is needed so badly.

• The "Rooftop Bridge" in Shanghai, China. Fascinating because of its rapid expansion, Shanghai is still confronted by mobility problems which mean road infrastructure is everywhere, both on the ground and overhead. Making the roofs of these bridges public means changing the very perception of these existing works.

• The "The Accommodating Structure" in New York, United States. An icon of the vertical city due to its towers, the American megalopolis lays and submerges bridges which become homes, local halls, public spaces, etc.

• The "Inhabited Structure" in Moscow, Russia. Marc Mimram's project ties in with the anthology image of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence over the Arno, by providing a total fusion between city and bridge.