They Came, They Saw, They Concreted

They Came, They Saw, They Concreted is about the social lives, the technique and culture of concreters.

The ancient Romans developed cement and concrete similar to the kinds used today. Their cement had such great durability that some of their buildings, roads and bridges still exist. People lost the art of making cement after the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 400's, but it made a comeback and how!

Concrete is watertight, fireproof, and comparatively cheap and easy to make. However, in Australia, even after the Second World War it was hard to find. But, from that point on, there arrived on these shores a select group of people who set about changing the environment we live in.

If Italians aren't talking with their hands, they're building with them and build they did. Free from the restrictions of Italy's history and architecture and with cheap land in abundance, Australia was a paradise for the creative concreter. Within forty or fifty years of post war migration, suburbs all over Australia were transformed. The Italians announced their presence with colours bold enough to inspire Ken Done. A pink terrace next to a Mediterranean blue semi, next to a vine green mansion next to...

To an Italian his home is more than just his castle, it's so important that eight out of ten Italians in Australia own a house. A great deal of Italians bought these houses by working long and hard hours on building sites. In the 1960's and 1970's the high rise building industry was largely made up of Italian labourers. These were the same men who on weekends would take their work home and concrete gardens and driveways.

It is very easy for concrete to become a way of life. From flamingos to the Opera House, the Italians came, they saw and they concreted.