"Concrete, the modern building material." Wurster Hall is made of it. Concrete manufacturing in California is one of the state's most important geological industries. Concrete is a mixture of cement (a combination of minerals, such as calcite and clays, finely ground and mixed with water) and assorted rocks (aggregate), and can be confused with natural rocks. It can also deteriorate, particularly if steel reinforcement (rebar) is too close to the surface.

Ironically, the decomposing Wurster Hall, a "neo-brutalist"-style building ranked by many as the ugliest building on campus, is home to the Architecture Department. Professor Charles Benton's page of aerial kite photography of Wurster (complete with memories of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake) offers a far more flattering view. The building is currently being retrofitted.