Light transmitting concrete
How can a concrete wall transmit inside the building the silhouettes of trees or passersby? By adding optical fibers to the mix. The world’s most popular building material, combined with an array of glass fibers creates a new material which seems to be porous because of it’s capability of transmitting light. The optical fibers, used to shift light at each end, produce a “see-through” effect. So objects on the outside can leave their silhouette on the inside. This is LitraCon, the first light transmitting concrete, invented in 2001 by a Hungarian architect, Áron Losonczi. An other interesting fact is that a wall made of LitraCon has the same strength as one made from traditional concrete while the effect created by the glass fibers remains the same even for a 20 m thick wall.
Can you imagine a concrete building looking bright and airy instead of dark and heavy? Well this is starting to happen. LiTraCon was first used as the surface of a square in inner Stockholm and in 2004 in a private house in Budapest.
Comments
as someone is the building industry, I do not hope that the residential market swings toward steel framing as it is more difficult to work with, slower, and not nearly as strong.
The light transmitting ‘crete would be pretty damn cool though, I wonder if it could be used in hempcrete, where hemp fiber is used as binder, rather than sand.
Of course, pAUL, wood is a non-renewable resource whereas concrete grows on trees.
Wait, I’m confused.
We’ll run out of oil before we run out of concrete though. At that time, maybe we’ll burn trees to power our powerful SUVs.
How about light transmitting bricks now? Bricks are used extensively all over the world besides concrete. LitraBRICKS (proposed) could help save energy in buildings and also save on the costs of plaster, paint and labour.
Hafiz Al Asad Talha.
Bangladesh.
A great idea. I hope it will take off here in the USA. We need to use more concrete rather than wood for our buildings. I hope the residential market will swing towards steel framing rather than depleting our wooden resourses. A concrete that emits light would be a plus in the building industry.