After a generation in the doghouse, concrete is more fashionable than ever. So why don’t we take better care of our brutalist architecture?

Concrete is everywhere. It is not only under our feet and above our heads, forming the background infrastructure of buildings and cities, but it has infiltrated every aspect of our lives.  You can spray yourself with Concrete perfume by Comme des Garçons, wear one of 8,000 concrete jewellery items available on Etsy, drink at the Southbank Centre’s Concrete Cafe, then party at the Concrete Space nightclub. How did this humble mixture of cement and sand, for decades maligned as the scourge of our cities, become the ultimate lifestyle concept, used to sell everything from luxury apartments to club nights?...