Anselm Jappe's 'Cemento, arma di costruzione di massa' critiques concrete as capitalist tool

Anselm Jappe's book 'Cemento, arma di costruzione di massa' (Elèuthera, 2022) offers a critical history of reinforced concrete as the material embodiment of capitalism. Jappe argues that concrete, mass-adopted since the late 19th century, erases local differences and imposes uniformity, turning cities into interchangeable spaces. The book opens with the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse in Genoa, calling it a predictable result of programmed obsolescence inherent in reinforced concrete. Jappe distinguishes ancient Roman concrete from modern reinforced concrete, which he sees as a 'neotechnical shock' that denies materials their historical forms. He critiques Le Corbusier's 'machines for living' and his fascist affiliations, noting Le Corbusier's own wooden cabin on the French Riviera contrasted with the 14-square-meter cells he designed for the masses. Jappe draws on Situationist critiques by Raoul Vaneigem and Guy Debord, who linked urban planning to crime. The book also examines concrete's association with democracy and the left, arguing it is ideologically transversal. Jappe praises William Morris and Bernard Rudofsky's 'Architecture without Architects' (MoMA, 1964) for valuing vernacular architecture. The final chapter connects concrete to Marx's abstract/concrete distinction, calling it the 'perfect materialization of the logic of value.' The book calls for escaping this logic to create humane cities.