Concrete

 Concrete is a moldable material, in fact the only one suitable for building purposes, which features very special characteristics. It allows erecting buildings from one piece, without junctures, and can adopt any desired form by pouring it into an adequate mold. Being a mineral material with brittle behavior, it needs to be reinforced with steel to acquire tensile strength. Its deformational and general mechanical behavior is visco-elastic, i.e. it is capable of adjusting self-actingly to loads peaks, thereby neutralising associated hazards. Its rather complex behavior needs to be well understood for ist constructional use.