An extraordinary light transmitting concrete invented and patented by Hungarian architect Aron Losonczki has taken out the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen 2005 Red Dot best of the best award.
The fibres carry light through blocks up to 20m thick without significant loss in brightness.
Comprising glass fibres integrated into fine concrete; LiTraCon features thousands of optical glass fibres which create a matrix of lines that run in parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of each block. The material is translucent because the glass fibres carry light in the form of little dots from one face of the block to another Because of the parallel arrangement, shadows on the lighter surface appear sharply on the darker one.
LiTraCon can be used in architecture as pre-cast blocks or as panels and, theoretically, a wall structure can even be several metres thick, since the fibres carry light through blocks up to 20m thick without significant loss in brightness.
Because the glass fibres don’t have a negative effect on the compressive strength of the concrete, load bearing structures can be built. The blocks can be produced in various sizes and with embedded heat isolation.
In a first application, LiTraCon was used as the construction material in the Europe Gate, a statue built to celebrate Hungary’s accession to the EU.
Source: Building Products News.