Brighten Your Dim Apartment With Translucent Concrete
Homeowners of the future may h
ave a lot more options when it comes to illuminating their pads. Thanks to the Hungary-based design firm, LiTraCon, architects and designers can construct entire walls that glow. Incorporating optical glass fibers in the construction design, the fiber-concrete blend creates almost microscopically small see-through patches, making each block of LiTraCon concrete significantly less opaque than traditional building materials.
Since fiber optics only comprise approximately 4 percent of the wall's design, the concrete can bear the same weight as traditional building materials, the only difference is, you can see glimpses of what's on the other side. Because the fiber optics are built into the concrete itself, thickness doesn't matter. LiTraCon walls can be up to 65 feet thick without losing their translucent glow. Luckily DIYers looking to get that effect in their own homes needn't pony up the $1,069 a three foot-by-three foot LitraCon block will cost you. Here's how to create light-emitting concrete yourself:
