1970 Concrete Traffic by Wolf Vostell

Concrete Traffic is a striking piece of public art created by German artist Wolf Vostell in 1970. Commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, it consists of a 1957 Cadillac DeVille completely encased in 16 tons of concrete. More than just a visual spectacle, the piece is a sharp commentary on urban life, consumerism, and the tension between mobility and permanence.

Vostell insisted the work be made and displayed in public, not in a gallery or studio. For him, the location was essential: the piece had to exist in the everyday urban environment to retain its meaning. Showing it in a gallery would strip it of its context and blunt its message.

After being created in a downtown Chicago parking lot in 1970, Concrete Traffic was eventually installed in the Campus North Parking Garage at the University of Chicago. In 2016, the piece underwent a full restoration and was returned to the same garage—continuing to confront passersby with its surreal blend of American car culture and brutalist immobility.