Launched by the Global Cement and Concrete Association, the competition invites professional and amateur photographers to share images of concrete that highlight its beauty and various uses around the world.
Recently launched by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), the second annual ‘Concrete in Life’ competition invites professional and amateur photographers across the world to share images of concrete’s use in everyday life – whether at home or outdoors – for the chance to win $10,000. Intended to highlight the practical use, strength, durability and beauty of concrete, as well as its sustainability advantages, the competition is part of the GCCA’s ongoing mission to develop and strengthen the sector’s contribution to sustainable construction.
Participants are encouraged to submit images in three categories by posting the photos onto Instagram or Twitter. Each category has its own hashtag, which should be used in the image post’s caption along with the GCCA’s tag on the social platform (@the.gcca on Instagram or @thegcca on Twitter). The categories are:
- Urban Design (#UrbanConcrete): Images of the city landscapes and buildings within our immediate environments. These can be both well-known or hidden spaces, from your favourite iconic building to the home you grew up in.
- Infrastructure (#ConcreteInfrastructure): From highways to bridges, airports to water dams, these images can highlight the concrete structures that enable and support our cities and rural areas, both above and below ground.
- Daily life (#ConcreteInDailyLife): Even as we stay close to home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, concrete is still all around us. These images should highlight how concrete is used and interacted with on a daily basis, featuring smaller scale applications of the material.
The competition will be judged by a panel of industry and design experts who will select one winner and one runner-up in each of the three categories, creating a group of six finalists, as well as one overall winner for the ‘Best Concrete in Life’ photo of the year. The overall winner will receive a $10,000 prize, while the remaining finalists will each receive a $2,500 prize. The judges are John Fairley, photographer and creative director of Curious Productions; Gabriele Galimberti, National Geographic photographer; Gian Luca Barone, senior associate of Zaha Hadid Architects; and Dinah McLeod, chief executive of the GCCA.
The competition will run until 9 December, 2020 at 11:59PM (PT time). More competition details can be found here.
The ‘Concrete in Life’ competition is one of several initiatives undertaken by the GCCA to highlight concrete’s use within the construction industry and its potential in to build a more sustainable future. The GCCA recently announced its 2050 Climate Ambition, bringing together 40 of the world’s leading cement and concrete companies in a collective global commitment to achieve carbon neutral concrete by 2050.
The climate ambition builds on the longstanding sustainability progress of GCCA member companies and affiliate associations across the world and sets out a global vision for the long-term sustainability of concrete, the vital building material that has shaped the modern world.
The GCCA also established Innovandi, the Global Cement and Concrete Research Network, to connect the cement and concrete industry with scientific institutions to drive forward innovation focused on climate action. The GCCA’s annual Innovandi Week is a week-long programme of online workshops aimed at accelerating global collaboration on cement and concrete research.
“Concrete, and its vital role in our world, is the foundation of so many of our human stories,” said McLeod. “The ‘Concrete in Life’ competition is a wonderful opportunity to showcase concrete’s strong, durable, renewable, resilient and beautiful aspects that make up our built environment. We hope that this competition will inspire participants to see the unique ways that it can be used all over the world.”
The GCCA was launched in January 2018 to develop and strengthen the concrete sector’s contribution to sustainable construction. The association aims to foster innovation throughout the construction value chain in collaboration with industry associations as well as architects, engineers and innovators. Along these lines, the GCCA demonstrates how concrete solutions can meet global construction challenges and sustainable development goals while showcasing responsible industrial leadership in the manufacture and use of cement and concrete. The GCCA is headquartered in London, England. It complements and supports the work done by associations at the national and regional levels.