Reimagining Concrete: Emese Orban's Anamamrete Project

Challenging Stereotypes and Humanizing Industrial Materials

Orban's inspiration for the Anamamrete project came from the increasing use of concrete in architecture, interior design, and other design fields. Despite its growing popularity, many people still have prejudices about this material. Orban aimed to create innovative concrete surfaces that would make people think of concrete as a versatile and intriguing material, suitable for use by designers and architects. She conducted more than 140 experiments, focusing on coloring concrete, material coupling, and mold experiments.

The unique properties of the Anamamrete project lie in its aim to humanize concrete. Orban focused on overcoming the negative stereotypes associated with concrete and creating a new, more pleasant, and softer look for a generally industrial material. The project also offers alternatives for innovative concrete wall coverings, providing a new visual experience for interior designers.

The realization of the Anamamrete project involved mixed media. The main material was concrete, but Orban also used diverse materials such as textile, cork, wood shavings, fragrance oil, glass, decor foam, hay, seashell, mineral powder, yarn, felt, vlies, chalk, ink, fabric paint, glass paint, wax, metal foil, structure paste, glitter paste, and iron paste. The project resulted in more than 140 experiments, with each cube measuring 80 x 80 x 80 mm and each tile measuring 210 x 170 x 18 mm.

The Anamamrete project began in January 2017 in Budapest, Hungary, and was completed in June 2017. It was exhibited at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest in June 2017. As part of the project, Orban conducted research involving people from different fields. They were asked how their opinions about concrete had changed after seeing and touching the innovative cubes and tiles. Orban used the feedback from this survey to define the potential use of each experiment and to summarize human reactions.

Despite the challenges involved in the project, such as tracking and inviting relevant people from different fields for group testing and determining which experiments worked in small or large scales, Orban was able to successfully complete the project. The Anamamrete project not only offers new and innovative ways of using concrete but also challenges and changes people's perceptions of this industrial material.