Baudrillard 1 Banham 0

What does the term “fair-faced concrete” mean? Officially, “fair-faced concrete” is taken to mean concrete surfaces that fulfil the appearance requirements of DIN 18217 “Concrete surfaces and formwork surface”. Interestingly, this Standard neither mentions nor defines the term “fair-faced concrete”, nor does it set out any precise rules or guidelines for it. The reason given for this (by the German cement industry association “Bundesverband der Deutschen Zementindustrie”) is that there are a number of influences that cannot be foreseen or controlled with absolute certainty in the course of manufacture and on-site job execution

Oh dear. My fellow friends of Brutalism: it seems the concrete we love so dearly for its truth to itself is not true. It is not classified by its own classification. The material which marked the triumph of Modernism turns out to be a simulacrum.

It is all very confusing.