Fiber cement—primarily known by the brand name Eternit in many countries—has been enjoying a renaissance for a decade. Structures by Günter Behnisch, Bearth & Deplazes, Coop Himmelblau, MVRDV, Morphosis, and many others exploit its tremendous formal and chromatic versatility at a time when elegant minimalism and flexible practicality are highly prized commodities in architecture. Also, the new generation of fiber cement slabs has air and water permeability characteristics that make it unrivaled for certain purposes. In ever expanding realms of home and workplace, it is also used for individual aesthetic design (e.g. interior house walls, exhibition architecture, and functional and industrial structures).

This book introduces the technology of fiber cement and its material and architectural history and presents some thirky outstanding new and recent projects from Europe and the United States, practically organized by principal applications—facade, roof, interior architecture, and object design.