I went looking for concrete that people actually use, every day, without thinking about it. A footbridge, a stair, a car park ramp, a water tower. Each one was built cheaply and well, and each one has outlived the arguments about whether it was beautiful.

1. Dyke stair, Kralingen. Worn smooth in the middle by fifty years of shoes.
2. Car park ramp, city centre. The best acoustics in the city, according to the skaters.
3. Quay wall, Maashaven. Cast in sections in 1958; you can still count the joints.

Concrete takes the shape of whatever held it while it set. Look closely and you can see the wood grain of the formwork, the drips, the places where a worker leaned on a board. These are not flaws. They are the only signatures these buildings have.