The winners of the 2018 PPC Imaginarium Awards South Africa have been crowned! This year witnessed a record number of concrete works entered for the country’s top contest for emerging creatives – and saw 24-year-old sculptor Chris Soal named Overall Winner!

The PPC Imaginarium is an ambitious modern art and design competition aimed at providing emerging artists and designers with the opportunity to showcase their talents through the medium of concrete.

Giovanni Zambi came 1st in the Industrial Design category with his concrete bicycle (pictured).

View all the details on the PPC Imaginarium website here: www.ppcimaginarium.co.za

Or see more picture and videos on the facebook page @ppcimaginarium

With many students attending their graduation ceremonies this week we’d like to say kudos to the Landscape Architect students. Well done to all of you who are graduating this year and Godspeed on the journey ahead.

Mario Graziani, co-director of Stonecast, lectures the UCT Landscape Architect masters students annually on concrete and its properties. Landscape Architecture is the art and practice of designing the outdoor environment, especially designing parks or gardens to harmonize with buildings and roads. Understanding the processes and qualities of concrete is obviously an important aspect of being able to execute designs with this material. Mario’s lectures explore the applications, finishes and aesthetics of concrete in order to equip the students with this knowledge. Along with defining the limitations of the material, Mario encourages students to push the limits in order to realize creative solutions and remain on the cutting edge of innovation in this field.

You can find out more about the landscape architecture course at UCT here: http://www.apg.uct.ac.za/apg/landscape-architecture

Please note: VAT increases from 14% to 15% on the 1 April 2018 and our prices will adjust accordingly. Also, the VAT on all quotes issued up til the end of March will change to 15% without notification.

Stonecast launches into 2018 with a range of raw concrete finishes in the Brutalist style. Included are Off-shutter concrete, Bush hammered concrete, Brushed concrete and Blowhole concrete. These textures were popularized by the  Brutalistic architectural style of the 60’s & 70’s, where rough finishes accompanied hard uncompromising form and repeated modular elements.  All Stonecast products are now available in these finishes, in Metropolis grey, Portland Grey, Sandstone White or Lime White.

Massive Clearance Sale Now On! Stock register includes Bonsai Pots, Wasabi Basins, Archaic Bowls, Putto, Piccolina and Chi Cha bowls, Bruno Flower Pots, Traditional Flower Pots, Candle Bowls, Calabria Pots, Bruneschi’s Bruno Troughs, Tombstones, Bilben Pots, Bali Planters, Pavers & Architectural Features. Everything must go. Come now before its too late!

LANXESS presented its third Colored Concrete Works Award in Berlin to a distinguished architect who has achieved something unique in the use of colored concrete. This year’s award goes to Rudy Ricciotti for his “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” (MuCEM) project in Marseille in the south of France. Check out the full artical here.

Innovation in concrete design has opened a new door to possibility with new photoluminescent concrete. Photoluminescance, or “glow-in-the-dark” materials absorb light during the day which they release at night. This technology is now available as an additive for concrete, both as night-glow terrazzo chips or in the concrete mix itself. Initially this was developed for industrial safety markings but now glow-in-the-dark concrete is being used to create concrete products such as baths and water-features as well as being used to make magical paving and swimming pools. Click here to see some of the possibilities.