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When you look at the origins of decorative concrete, which has been around for 100 years or so, it can be considered in its infancy when compared to some of the beautiful indigenous materials used in decorative construction techniques across the world, which have, by the way, been used for thousands upon thousands of years in regions where architecture truly originated.

Two years ago we were asked to teach a class in Athens, Greece, on concrete countertops, overlay toppings with stains and dyes, and epoxy coatings. I remember being at the construction site where we were holding our training,  facing our group of students and looking past them to the background and seeing the most incredible view of the Parthenon. Talk about a humbling experience! It was strange that our Greek friends were so amazed with what we were able to achieve with concrete in terms of shaping and molding it, not to mention the endless color combinations, while at the same time we were blown away with the most beautiful detailed local structures that were still standing after almost 2,500 years.

Throughout Europe up until roughly 15 years ago, decorative concrete was something that one had heard of or read about but was not largely accepted since concrete was thought to be better suited for utilitarian purposes. After all, why would one choose decorative concrete, which can be considered by many purists to be a faux finish, when they had an endless surplus of incredible natural minerals virtually in their backyard? As a result, the European decorative contractor was fighting tradition early on!

On the other hand, on a smaller scale decorative concrete was well on its way in the early 1990s. It was around this time that Euro Disney broke ground using many architectural finishes that were considered the launching pad for the European decorative concrete market. More and more manufacturers saw an opportunity for this market and actually set up full production manufacturing plants to be able to capitalize on the business.

As the demand for new and innovative products increased abroad, the demand for training and education followed. As a result, we found ourselves once again in Europe teaching decorative concrete in 2007. We made two trips across the pond, once to Castlefranco, Italy, (45 kilometers from Venice) and then a trip that included stops in Paris and Rome.