‘A sizzling and steaming pressure cooker’. Thus one can describe the fifth Blitz Beton Workshop, in which 30 architecture students from all over Europe made objects in concrete. After a week of intense discussions, sketching, producing models and finally preparing and filling the moulds, now six concrete objects, each about 2000 kilos, are placed in the Witte de Withstraat in Rotterdam.

This workshop was the fifth and last in a series, initiated by the cement producer ENCI, aiming to create an intense collaboration among students designing in and with the material concrete. Due to earlier experiences the organisation went smoothly. Necessary materials where in ample supply, just as experienced technical specialists. Furthermore the supervisors of the workshop Siebe Bakker and Henk Ovink knew exactly when it was time to stamp on the participants and when some positive encouraging help was needed. So that deadlines were met with maximum results. Also the accommodations where really fine, for a second time the workshop was housed in the Centre for Visual Arts, TENT., where one of their exhibition rooms was transformed into an atelier. The activities there and elsewhere in the building formed an integral part of the expositions in TENT..

Around noon on Sunday August 25th the workshop started. After an elaborate lunch the group underwent a warming-up with a full brainstorm session on the theme ‘concrete branding’. This was led by ‘creative consultants’ Dré Kampfraath and Nico Smak. After a first communal ideas session, the participants had to ‘brand’ themselves by means of a white T-shirt and some markers. After everyone was dressed in logos and sound bites a next individual task was presented: ‘brand’ one of the most common products you can find in any house: the apple.
Hardly rested from this flashing start the participants where presented with an exploring lecture by Siebe Bakker. Concrete, fashion, Monaco and casa Malaparte passed by, leaving the participants full of  thoughts.

The next few days where a race against time to transform the wide ranging theme of ‘concrete branding’ into six good and easy to built designs. To guarantee a sound beginning the participants were forced to divide themselves into groups of 5 or 6 persons committed to one of the locations in the Witte de Withstraat in a very brief period of time. Each location was connected to a nearby company, in this case Bar P, the Scapino Ballet, Multimedia institute V2, an art gallery, a flower shop and TENT.. Each group would brand one of these companies by means of 1 cubic meter of concrete, restricted by a mould measuring 0,9 x 1,2 x 2,4 meters, which were positioned differently for every location.(Also he position was different for every location)
Soon lively discussion started and sketches and models were produced. From Monday mini moulds in scale 1:10 were available. Using a fast hardening gips mortar models could be made. By pouring and demoulding these models the participants learned quickly the many possibilities and restrictions of concrete.

Many fine ideas were quickly produced in 3D. Only the choice for one of these to continue with appeared to be an enormous task. Maarten Veerman and myself, assigned to the workshop to film and photograph, where asked many times to assist in this process. Also many complaints arisen about how such collaborations could work. The fact that finally it was not such a big problem for most involved became clear during the evening critic, when one of the groups exploded.

‘Collaboration does not exist, only when you are paid so much money that you can put aside your pride’ one of the visiting critics, choreographer Ton Simons, spoke. None of the participants received any fee however, for one of them this was insurmountable. The previous evening she already left an unforgettable impression by stating ‘maybe it is because of my ego, but I love my design’. The presentation of this group transpired irritation and a not functioning collaboration. In reaction to which according to Siebe they had to stop and re-evaluate their proposals to have another try later that evening. This finally worked out well, but the next morning the aggrieved participant left the workshop. Although this grouped hosted more smart and self-willed persons this premature leave led to a better atmosphere and the group managed to produce a shared idea.

After all designs where refined, everyone had to work like ants to assemble their moulds made from insulation foam. Ready for use by Thursday evening. A promised one night off was cancelled. A decision to get accustomed to especially for the foreign participants, hoping they would have a change to discover Rotterdam. But with working hours from 9 am up till 11 pm just one night in town remained. The other evenings where ‘limited’ to drinking in Bar P or exhausting the Dutch hosts, packed with foreign guests, in typically Dutch students treats.
This cultural mix and intense collaborations created a tight bond within the group. A condition which surfaced especially on Friday, when during the filling of one of the moulds all hands were needed to avoid a total disaster.

The first two moulds were easily filled with the special self compacting concrete. The third object, in front of TENT., however produced some problems. The enormous pressure created by 1 meter high fluid concrete forced the mould to shift. At that time almost 1 cubic meters of concrete poured out of the mould almost as fast as it was filled. A stream of grey mass flooded the pavement, reached the street and almost disappeared into the draining system.
‘Block the drains!’ Thus was shouted by one of the coordinators. In reaction to which everyone reacted  and swiftly stopped the oncoming disaster with cartons and sandbags. At that moment everyone, especially the organisers, thought it was all over. A few of them however reacted very pragmatic. The mould was reassembled and reinforced. The concrete appeared to be so fluid it could be reused after it was collected in buckets. The other objects where filled in steps, starting with a little bottom of concrete and topped off later that afternoon with a fresh load of concrete especially arranged to appear at the end of the day by the supplier Mebin, stretching their normal working hours. Because of this extraordinary effort all six objects where successfully finished.

The last Saturday was reserved for dismantling the objects. A hell of a job because of the complex forms. Spare time was used to prepare a presentation inside TENT. to accompany the official end of the workshop. This consisted out of the presentations of the objects and again some wonderful snacks. The unofficial ending was of course a great party and a night time tour of Rotterdam with all participants. In the end, tired but pleased the final goodbyes were said. The objects were present for three weeks, the memories of an extraordinary week will last much longer.

(author: Okke van den Broek, published in B-nieuws)