Description
Schokbeton was a company and patented system of Dutch origin for prefabricating reinforced concrete building components. Originally patented in 1934, Schokbeton was hugely successful, as evidenced by its export, licensing, and franchising around the globe. The essence of the Schokbeton patent was lifting and dropping the mould at a high frequency while pouring the concrete (with a low water-cement-factor), instantly compacting the concrete, resulting in very dense concrete, hardly permeable for water and oxygen.Concrete precasting was a response to a variety of economic, environmental, and social forces working against in-situ concrete construction. After the turn of the twentieth century, ever-increasing labor costs made in-situ construction economically uncompetitive, particularly for architectural-quality concrete. In response, precasting introduced systematized concrete production in a weather-protected plant for more efficient production, manageable construction schedules, consistency, and elevated quality than site construction could achieve.
Schokbeton arrived in the US with the first mainland franchise in 1960 to a newly formed company, Eastern Schokbeton. Eventually, Schokbeton was licensed and franchised nationwide in the US and produced architectural precast concrete for many prominent American mid-century architects.
The intrinsic durability of the material, the high quality of engineering and technical design within the company as well as the cooperation with renowned architects allow for a retrospective analysis of the architectural legacy and impact of Schokbeton.
This duo-presentation will trace Schokbeton’s interesting post-war path from the Netherlands to the USA and its distribution of franchisees and licensees across the USA. It will show many buildings, dive into concrete recipes and refer to archival material to elaborate on the introduction, growth, maturity and decline of Schokbeton. By doing so it will explore how precasting changed concrete architecture was designed and constructed.
| Period | 4 Oct 2024 → 6 Oct 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Cement Age | Concrete NAtion |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Philadelphia, United States, PennsylvaniaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- historic concrete
- histroic cement