Concretists Michael Miller and Kelley Burnham Believe Honesty is Best Policy

Mike Miller and Kelley Burnham

For Michael Miller, president and managing principal of the Concretist Inc., Mother Nature played a unique role in piquing his interest in concrete. While Miller was visiting Yosemite National Park (he was then a salesman for a concrete stain manufacturer), he had the chance to explore The Ahwahnee Hotel.

Completed in 1927, The Ahwahnee features a unique blend of design influences including Art Deco, Native American, Middle Eastern, and Arts and Crafts Movement. These elements are repeated in every aspect of the hotel, including stenciling on woodwork, light fixtures and china patterns. But what struck Miller most was the stained concrete. "It's like one of the great [concrete] wonders of the world," he says.

Miller, a featured speaker at World of Concrete and a past member of ACI Committee 303 (Architectural Cast-in-Place Concrete), has been working with concrete since 1978. But his career took a turn in 1990, when he formed an association, the concretist, with several other artisans.

"I never wanted a lot of employees. I wanted to be able to concentrate on a project, an individual endeavor, and not have to worry about medical insurance and time cards," Miller explains. "I wanted [to work with] people who were confident, independent and able to take care of themselves. Working with like-minded people who are self-directed makes things perfect. It makes it more interesting and fun, and encourages exchange."

That exchange has led to creating concrete work that's interesting without trying to be something it's not. In response to a faux approach (like traditional stamped concrete) or an overly structured approach (architectural concrete), Miller's co-principal, Kelley Burnham coined the phrase "sensory" concrete—or a product that embraces the innate qualities of concrete, as well as the sweat and skill that helped create it.

Burnham explains that sensory concrete focuses on tapping the energy endemic to concrete design and construction, and revealing and interpreting its magic. It generates the desire to look, to approach, to look closer, and to touch. A key quality of sensory concrete is closeness. Sensory concrete's roots are with the artist and the artisan—those with a more hands-on style and flair for finishes.

Individuals producing sensory concrete have a passion for this material, according to Burnham. They regard each concrete mixture's unique qualities and inconsistencies as a point of response, rather than problems to be masked or repaired.

"You have to take a hard look at concrete, acknowledging what it really is—an imperfect yet beautiful material. The harder you try to make it consistent, the less that happens. I look at the 'bad' things and emphasize those dynamic aspects to make it interesting," explains Miller.

One of Miller's goals is to always give concrete a voice, which he does by utilizing his senses. "I look and listen hard," Miller adds. "Take a close look at concrete—looking at qualities that may not be apparent at first glance, such as the ghost of aggregate near, but just below, the surface. Listen to clients and hear what's important to them. There's intuition in this, you have to see things most people can't."

Miller admits he often has to deduce what's important to clients based on what he hears them saying, before making the leap from their ideas to the product. Take a past situation where Miller and Burnham met with a landscape architect in San Francisco to discuss an urban housing project, which included interior and exterior work.

Although the client stressed the importance of wanting to specify sealed and "new" looking concrete, the samples they liked (and presented) were that of distressed, unsealed concrete pieces. Only because the concretists were really looking and listening to what the client was describing could they ascertain that what the client was saying and what they were pointing to were two different things.

Often, Miller finds himself in a teaching role, whether it's educating a client or training others in the art of sensory concrete. And like any other art, Miller explains that there's a lot to learn.

"There's a learning curve that has less to do with the coloring materials (stains, dyes, tints, etc.) and more to do with actually learning about concrete," he says. "You must learn to recognize nuances and absorb important technical information, which takes a commitment of years."

"The people I enjoy training the most are those who have succeeded in some other artistic field first (like fabric designers, wine makers, chefs and musicians), because they tend to be more sensitive to nuances and layering of materials in general," Miller adds.

Though Miller is often the teacher, he says he still has room to learn and that he always wants to be a beginner, because, "The minute you think you know all the answers, you've lost it." That's why he generally lets Burnham and (art director) Martin Webb take the lead on projects he's responsible for.

"It's my choice and privilege to let others lead on almost every job," says Miller. "The work is much fresher and challenging than if I'd taken the lead myself."

Burnham describes her artistic approach, saying, "I view what we do as being outside the realm of mainstream, mainly because of the fact that we view concrete as a medium, not as a product. As such, we work with this 'medium' as a canvas, constantly exploring and pushing in new directions, using differing materials and developing new techniques."

As for where all the ideas stem from, Burnham cites art, nature, and the science of nature. "The natural world is such an endlessly fascinating place. Color, texture, details, scale, complexity—every place and every day is different," she explains. "I'm also inspired by collaboration. To have smart, creative people sharing thoughts and responding to each other's ideas creates better work."

Miller echoes that sentiment, adding that pairing up with an artist, like someone just out of another field or a design program, is an ideal situation. "By combining your concrete experience with their fresh ideas and enthusiasm, that's the best combination," he says.

Ultimately, Miller and Burnham think the material itself is what will make the difference. "Concrete presented as concrete will lead to success," Miller says. "Concrete is best when it's presented most honestly."

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