Concrete, Chandigarh, Soho: A Love Story
“Le Corbusier loved concrete. I do too. When I was designing our new Soho store, I kept coming back to one idea: the floor needed to be elemental.”
Table of Content
The Dinner Party Question
Someone recently asked me: if I could have dinner with anyone, who would I choose?
That’s a tough question. My passion for design has brought me into contact with many inspiring people, so it’s hard to pick just one. But right now, I’d choose Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, or simply Le Corbu.
Why him, and why now?
Because as I open a new store in SoHo, I keep thinking about concrete. For this space, we needed a material that felt elemental and authentic. To understand why, it helps to look at concrete’s history.
A Material with Memory: The Concrete Timeline
Concrete hasn’t always been seen as just a plain surface. Over time, it has taken on its own meaning
1900s to 1920s: Auguste Perret, the teacher
Auguste Perret was one of the first to show that reinforced concrete could be beautiful. He kept the concrete frame, columns and beams, visible in his buildings, mixing new materials with classic proportions. His Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1913) is a great example. A young Le Corbusier worked in his office and learned from him.
1925 to 1926: Walter Gropius, the collective vision
Walter Gropius gave concrete a new purpose. His Bauhaus in Dessau (1925 to 1926) showed off the glass and concrete frame as a bold statement. The building suggested a new way for people to live and work together.
1925 to 1933: Bruno Taut, social housing
Bruno Taut used modern materials to build entire communities. His Horseshoe Estate (Hufeisensiedlung) in Berlin (1925 to 1933) provided homes for thousands and offered a new way of living together.
1963: Hans Scharoun, musical form
Hans Scharoun showed that concrete could move. His Berlin Philharmonie (1963) curves and wraps around the orchestra, almost like a tent.
1947 to 1952: Le Corbusier, honesty
Le Corbusier embraced concrete while others tried to hide it. He called it béton brut, raw concrete, and saw it as something honest, not something to cover up.
At Cité Radieuse in Marseille (1947 to 1952), he raised an entire residential block on columns and left the concrete pour marks visible.
Soon after, he built an entire city of concrete: Chandigarh. Here, concrete was not only structural, it became symbolic. It shaped the rhythm of streets and civic spaces, the monumental government buildings, and the everyday geometry of life, turning material into identity. It is a place I feel deeply connected to and return to often, both to ground myself and to find new inspiration.
1956 to 1960: Oscar Niemeyer, sensuality
Oscar Niemeyer made concrete bend and curve. In Brasília, Brazil’s new capital, concrete takes on a flowing shape. Domes, arches, and rising forms feel closer to sculpture than structure.
1930s to 1960s: Pier Luigi Nervi, engineering as poetry
In Italy, Pier Luigi Nervi found new ways to use reinforced concrete for very long spans, with great elegance. His Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome (1957) shows how structure can also be decoration, ribbed and rhythmic like a shell. He later brought this skill to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in New York (1963).
1950s to 1970s: Louis Kahn, sacred weight
Louis Kahn gave concrete a monumental feel. At the Salk Institute in La Jolla (1959 to 1965), two concrete wings frame a courtyard, and a narrow water channel leads your eye straight to the Pacific.
1970s onward: Tadao Ando, precision and intensity
Tadao Ando, who is self-taught and has a unique style, gives concrete a spiritual feeling. One of my favorites is the Water Temple on Awaji Island (1991). You walk across a lotus pond and then go down into a meditation hall under the water.
Photo 1: National Congress, Brazil, Image:architecturaldigest.com
Photo 2: Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Image: Wikimedia.org
Photo 3: George Washington Bridge Bus Station, New York, Image: docomomo-us.org
Photo 4: Salk Institute, La Jolla, Image: salk.edu
Photo 5: Water Temple, Awaji Island, Japan, Image: hartmutpohling.com
What It All Means
Perret showed that concrete could be elegant and the Bauhaus showed it could change how we live; Le Corbusier proved it could be honest.
Then the others added to this story. Niemeyer made concrete sensual, Nervi turned structure into poetry, Kahn made it feel sacred, and Ando made it meditative. Together, they created a new language.
Concrete became more than just a building material. It became a way to show permanence, purpose, and what we want our spaces to say.
Bringing It Home: 161 Grand Street
That is the lineage I kept returning to as I looked at our empty SoHo space at 161 Grand Street.
At first, the floor looks simple: a smooth, poured concrete surface. But it carries centuries of building history. From ancient cisterns to the Pantheon to béton brut, its surface remembers the past and stays true.
This isn't Brutalism. It's something gentler. Concrete as calm. A poured concrete floor has gravity. It holds light. It makes every object feel more intentional.
Why Concrete for the Store
We chose concrete for two reasons.
First, how it behaves. Once fully cured, it becomes inert. Zero-VOC. Unlike most wood floors with their glues and resins that off-gas for years, concrete is clean and stable.
Second, and more important to me: it's a love letter to Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, whose pieces I collect and sell. Their furniture was designed to sit on the poured concrete of Chandigarh. Now, decades later, in a Soho storefront, I've closed the loop. The Jeanneret pieces sit on the material that first gave them meaning. Chandigarh to Soho.
When you walk into 161 Grand, you’re standing on the same material that shaped modernist ideas and built cities. Concrete remembers everything and never tries to be anything else.
The love affair continues.
"The home should be the treasure chest of living."
The Pierre Jeanneret Chairs and Daybed
Stay Tuned
This is the first part of a four-part series on how we’re bringing the rest of the SoHo store together.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does 161 Grand Street open?
We're targeting a February 15, 2026 opening at 161 Grand Street.
What will you carry?
We'll have pieces from our curated collection plus one-of-a-kind vintage finds, including original Jeanneret chairs from Chandigarh. Each piece is selected for authenticity, condition, and design significance. The inventory will evolve as we source new pieces.
