Stone and concrete: a review of the coevolution of the surface finishes of two building materials

In the nineteenth century, the demand for decorative building elements grew due to an increase of building activities caused by industrialisation and population growth. Artificial stone became an alternative for costly natural stone, using the possibilities offered by new binders and industrialisation. Initially it still mimicked the appearance of natural stone, both in texture and colour. Yet with the progress of concrete technology and increasing acceptance of concrete as an architectural material, an own material category emerged: precast concrete. In the 1930s, companies focused more on architectural precast elements, as pre casting allowed a better quality control than in-situ concrete, both in terms of concrete properties and surface finish, latter still influenced by techniques known from natural stone. During the post-war reconstruction period, the precast concrete industry had become mature, offering entire building systems and freely quoting textures and colours. In this paper, this evolution will be commented from a Dutch perspective.