One of my favorite materials that I would like to use in one of my future designs is the LiTraCon, a short name for Light Transmitting Concrete. It has been discovered by the Hungarian Architect, Áron Losonczi in 2001.
It presents the phenomenon of light transmitting concrete in the form of a widely applicable new building material.
In the concrete mix includes thousands of fibres that form a matrix and they run parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of each block. The proportion of the fibres is 4%, which is relatively small compared to the volume of the brick. These fibres become structural components of the LiTraCon concrete and they work like aggregates, that is because of their small size that helps them mix in the concrete.
Load-bearing structures can be also built of these blocks, since glass fibres do not have a negative effect on the well-known high compressive strength value of concrete. The blocks can be produced in various sizes and with embedded heat-isolation.
In the picture above you can see the use of LiTraCon concrete at Stureplan in Stockholm, which was made in 2002 for a competition. The special material looks as a normal concrete block would but when the night comes, light from underneath the concrete blocks lights up and then the unique properties of this material come out, as seen from the picture below.
Imagine if in this material was used in most of the buildings now. The buildings would seem like they are lighting up as if they are lamps themselves and streetlights would not be used as long as they are used now. Can you imagine the energy we would save that way?
