Strangely enough, the same typical details come to mind for both steel and timber construction, whereas nothing occurs to us when we consider monolithically cast concrete. Prefabricated columns and beams often clumsily imitate the characteristics of rolled steel and naturally grown timber, with the disadvantage, however, that connecting precast concrete elements is not as simple. Instead of exploiting the unique natural qualities of concrete and allowing it to set into any required three-dimensional form on site, it is deprived of its monolithic character. Jörg Schlaich