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A lowly substance of near limitless function, concrete has been used since ancient times in buildings both monumental and subtle, beautiful and hideous. Haunted by its Brutalist past, the simple mixture of stone, sand, and water is widely associated with sterile, imposing architecture, but concrete has taken a staggering variety of forms throughout history, from the Pantheon’s soaring dome to Louis Kahn’s rhythmic Salk Institute. In the beautifully illustrated Concrete (Phaidon, $49.95), William Hall features 175 striking structures—by Frank Lloyd Wright, Luis Barragán, and Zaha Hadid, among others—by way of exploring eight basic themes: form, texture, juxtaposition, landscape, light, mass, presence, and scale. The book is a vivid reminder of the sheer endurance, unexpected delicacy, and humor of architecture’s humble hero.

Click here to see the fascinating ways Le Corbusier, Barragán, Berthold Lubetkin, and Norihiko Dan used concrete.