Museum Hosts Translucent Concrete Display

2 hours, 10 minutes ago

By CARL HARTMAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - It used to be only Superman who could see through concrete walls, but an exhibit at the National Building Museum shows mere mortals can do it too.

AP Photo


Called "Liquid Stone," the show features variations of translucent concrete, a newfangled version of the old construction standby that offers a combination of aesthetics and practicality.


One display is a wall of translucent concrete blocks. When someone stands in front of it and light is shone from behind, the person's shadow can be seen clearly on the other side.


"I think it's beautiful in itself, so it might be attractive in a restaurant or a hotel," said G. Martin Moeller Jr., the museum's senior vice president. "But it might also be used in an indoor fire escape where you wanted light to come through in case of a power failure. It could become a lifesaver."


The translucent blocks are made by mixing glass fibers into the combination of crushed stone, cement and water, varying a process that has been used for centuries to produce a versatile building material. The process was devised by Hungarian architect Aron Losonczi in 2001.


"The idea came from a work of art I saw in Budapest," he said in a telephone interview from Csongrad in southeast Hungary. "It was made of glass and ordinary concrete, and the idea of combining the two struck me. Then I went to Stockholm to do post-graduate work in architecture and it developed there."


One of the first demonstrations was a sidewalk in Stockholm made of thin sheets of translucent concrete. It looks like an ordinary sidewalk by day but is illuminated at night by lights under it.


A company in Aachen, Germany, called LiTraCon for "light transmitting concrete," makes translucent blocks and plans to have them market-ready this year. Andreas Bittis, in charge of marketing, said that thus far, they have mainly been used in demonstration projects, such as the Stockholm sidewalk.


Bittis has many ideas for practical uses.


"Think of illuminating subway stations with daylight," he suggested in an e-mail. Or using the concrete for speed bumps and lighting them from below to make them more visible at night.


Translucent concrete is strong enough for the uses for traditional concrete, and chemical additives can greatly increase the strength. Moeller pointed out, however, that until demand increases, experimentation continues and production costs fall, the price of any new product will be significantly higher than similar older products.


Will Wittig, who teaches architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy, has developed concrete panels shown in the exhibit that in some places are only a tenth of an inch thick. He said he has ideas about an all-concrete building, part of which would consist of ordinary opaque concrete and the translucent kind.


Inventor Thomas A. Edison had the idea of an all-concrete house almost a century ago. Though he worked on it for years and spent a lot of money, the idea never caught on.


Today's concrete buildings have skeletons of steel, but Moeller said that could become obsolete with the development of a recently invented self-reinforcing concrete, though that may be many years off.


The Lafarge Group, a French firm that says it is the world's largest producer of concrete, sponsored the exhibit and is showing off a recent variety called "Ductal" that does not need steel reinforcement. The exhibit shows how a light rail terminal has been built in Calgary, Alberta, almost entirely of Ductal, with concrete arches spanning 20 feet and the concrete only a quarter-inch thick.


A smooth-textured, tubular sample is shown in the exhibit. Known to the museum staff as "the pretzel," it looks like a long and hopelessly tangled garden hose.


Moeller said old-fashioned concrete has no give at all, but synthetic fibers added to the mix give some flexibility without losing strength.


Lancelot Coar, an artist, architect and engineer in Washington, is working on the use of fabric as reinforcement since it's more flexible than steel. The sample in the exhibit shows how it could give designers more freedom in using curved forms in concrete.

"Liquid Stone" will be on view though Jan. 23. Admission is free.

___

On the Net:

National Building Museum: www.nbm.org

Very Cool! I'm surprised that the idea of adding strong fibers to the cement hadn't accured earlier...after all, they made bricks with straw and mud centuries ago. The translucent stuff looks cool for battlement tops or something where you have large candles on the inside so that from the outside, it glows from a distance. Or a central fireplace that glows when the fire is burning. Or even a garden walkway that could be slightly illuminated at night so folks can see it. Lots of applications! What so you think of the fabric-stregnthened stuff? Is it too cheesy for out uses?

Your right the idea of using fibers is an old one and I know for a fact these guys didn't come up with using glass fiber first ::no-no.gif but they are the ones who took it to this point so they get the glory....sort of....

I like your ideas and see no reason why something like this couldn't be used.
I'd like to be able to afford the special glass that turns opaque with a slight electrical charge that runs through it, never have to have drapes or curtains again LOL

The good part is we will be able to read the patent when it comes out and for now I get to experiment to see if I can recreate this stuff.

I think its use is a longshot. That may not be fair to say though, as I dont have all the data on the thing. I do like the idea of being able to allow light to pass through. Very much indeed.
Hows this: have a section of an interior wall made from the see-thru stuff so that it allows light in. Sort of like a translucent ceiling - would perhaps solve daylighting problems. Then again, if you wanted it dark what do you then do?- have drapes across the "wall"? Another thing is: Does it stop UV rays? probably not, eh?
Thanks for posting the thing, though. That kind of data stimulates thought and keeps us on our toes. I think Ill throw that one in the junkdrawer (which is where all the little useful tidbits go until I can sort it out later when we need or Cleave and I get our research personell on it.)

I kind of like the idea of the flooring being illuminated at night in places. Subtle and stylish, but functional. Perhaps a stencil image painted on the underside with a light source shining through it to make a sillouette? Just rambling....

I think you could do some things with it also

I like it better for most apps then I do the highly expensive glass blocks.
I think the light transmitting problem could be solved with placing a light of the right frequency on the viewers side of the wall.
The Navy/Government has made intensive research into using light as camouflage. Very simply put one type of light's frequency spectrum cancels out another.

It is still concrete so my best guess is that it would stop UV rays to some point.

Yeah. I follow. Trippy stuff. good with the light source on the inside. I still bend my brain a bit when trying to envision how concrete could be translucent.
Ill be back in a while (or later on) I gatta go save the world and my company ( more like save the world from my company - those monkeys)

Stained glass?? or are we talking about those "hokey" glass squares you see in doctors offices? anyway, one thing I wanna get straight- is there a distinct era of castle that everyone is aiming to achieve here, and if so, what?

for that answer your have to ask your barbarian playmates capt.

My project is a true castle and falls under a different guideline I'm afraid.

Welcome to the new forums by the way, glad you could make it!!

Yeah, see, Laureen, Cleave and I are just "Career men", Duncan is a LIFER.

The answer to that goes like this: Our castle doesnt follow ridgidly to any one period. If one had to be chosen it would be 13th Century. The best way to get a visual idea of what the thing will look like is to take a look at Bodiam Castle (someone here Im sure has links to this place - thats like asking if Cleave has a knife laying around) ...anyway - take Bodiam Castle and spread its curtain wall out till its about a city block (not manhattan block - thats too big) - like your neighborhood.
The reason for not sticking to a certain period is because we want to make what we want to make. The aim is to take the better and more aestetic features of castle structures from whatever period and put them together in a composite. It is also not the intent to have it turn out mish-mashed - so minimally, the the thing has to jive (whats the word I need? congeel, conform, frigin coagulate.. ... be congruent.)
So i dont care if they didnt have trebuchets in 13th Century or if the Ironwork isnt historically correct - thats not the point. Bad-ass knock you panties off is more like the point.

Badass knock your panties off.... GOTCHA! on a TOTALLY different train of thought here... does the word Trebuchet make anyone else wanna hurl large fruit from the parapets of a castle?
sorry but i had to mention it.... i have a thing for launching fruit

I thought they had Trebuchets in 13th Century. I know the Romans had something similar far before that era, hmmm have to look that one up when I get the time.

Im not the historian so i couldnt say wether or not treb's were around then. I only know that surposedly treb's had something to do with making castles obsolete - thats only heresay though.

Now as regards owning and operating a trebuchet: Oh hell yes! The Cleaver and I have spent a few hours discussing this and have rented documentary videos on their creation etc. Its one of the things that keeps us going.
So what? youre fruity too? Oh, that fits in well. Yeah, see the Horticultural side of the corp will simply produce extra pumpkins and watermelons. I like to call it remote lawn fertilization.
Theres a string of dialouge in here somewhere - part of it I think is in "Building your own castle" and then there might be some in "counterweight trebuchet" - i tried to go to the latter but couldnt gain access - My guess is the Duncans arent done with their computer admin.

Welcome aboard, Capt. Gotta get rid of your sea legs (you ARE a SEA CAPTAIN, arn't you?) and get used to the castle grounds. Scott drinks moat*#@er has it right...everything WE think a castle should be. We are not, after all, trying to go back in time, per se, but we are trying to make an environment where the people who go there FEEl like they, if only because it conjurs up stuff in their minds about what a caslte shoud be. On the opposite side, we are definately Hollywood. Duncan's gonna, like, take over the countryside and become a land baron and force local peasants to build his castle like the old days... NOT. But he is definately going in a more historically correct manner, for lack of better words. Trebuchets are probably the only reason we are doing this...we just need a place for it! You can reserve your spot with Scott drinks moat*#@er and I for the first firing when the whole damned thing is done!

So what, Duncan, did you or anyone else hear anything more on that translucent concrete thing?

No nothing yet sorry ::no-no.gif

hey...how would insulate and wire and pipe a split face concrete block building? What would the inside walls look like? Could you stucco and half timber? Could you make arches?

hey...look what I found....

http://www.monarchstone.com/

Run the utilities between the inner and outer walls.
yes, yes, and yes

Yeah, what he said.

hey...did you guys get a chance to check out that link? What do you think? I think the stones have possibility.

They do have a good web site and their product seems to be better then most cast concrete items out there.
Check out the How to install guide, it's in depth.

I'm seriously considering concrete...not that I have done a whole lot of investigating in the building material area yer....hell, I can't even come up with a floor plan....I may have to hire an architect.....YUCK....or hell, maybe I wont build a folly at all....maybe I'll just buy a pre packaged set of blues for a huge mediterrean style house and build it all out of cement.....yeah, thats the ticket....something I DON'T have to think about...........

What fun would that be?

See, thats the thing: Duncan is sick and twisted and wont ever be happy unless his brain is tied in an inextricable knot around some architectural impossibility.
What would be the worst hell for Duncan to live in? Buliding TRACT homes for a living. Yes! Great punishment for the man if ever there was one that was needed! Even better would be making plastic toys in a factory in Hong Kong!

But seriously, there are pros and cons to the whole thing. If you want something different, unique etc, then theres a price you pay - both mental and out-of-pocket. Mainly it seems to be dependant upon ones own values; if you dont care - ok, build whatevers easiest. How much of your wit and money (and personal sweat) are you willing to invest? I believe its mainly dependant upon what you consider to be important.
Cleave and I are nut cases. So obviously, this while lifetime were amassing money to throw into this money pit and and then well bend our minds into cottage cheese and in the end? Who knows. Well die mid the project and be labled lunatic loosers! Fun! Hey, at least it wasnt a hum-drum life, eh?

Yeah well, I'm your long lost triplet.....I couldn't do "normal" if I wanted to.... even though somes days it feels like a curse, I would rather die doing things my way and trying to achieve my goals.... as out there as they may be to others...yep, just another fruitcake blonde Aquarian cominatcha....

You said you weren't blond, what 'd you do go and redye your hair?

well you know....got to keep those blonde roots from showing

Its my opinion that doing a castle folly in split-block would be the easiest - at least for the exterior. I had considered this as an option in my early months but abandoned it because it looked too much like split-block. (go figure)
Ive seen follies made of split-block and I didnt like them. They (to me) were obviously too modern and not authentic enough for my taste and I rather turned my nose up at them. I was thinking "well, if youre going to go through all the trouble to go as far as you have, why not go a little further still and make the thing at least look believable." Hence the birth of my faux stone. Since making it on my own in 1998, Ive seen it around (apparently, it wasnt the most original of ideas) in varying qualities; some look good - some hokey. I dont recomend trying to faux paint split-block in order to get it to look more realistic.

I await the blonde response...

Well like...umm...you know....thats why I was looking into you know the other concrete stuff...like the faux stone link thing I sent...they had like realy cool cobble stone and stuff that looked like ....you know really old castle stone.

how was that? Best I can do.

I'm not really ready to decide on material...I'm just looking and babbling again hoping it would inspire me to dream up a floor plan...I've actually been researching ornamental concrete for railings and windows etc. Found some nice stuff if you're interested.

I had a brain storm to put a pool and garden on a rooftop courtyard...have clue what the hell drugs I was on when I dreamed that up. It sort of solved a little privacy issue I was having with putting the rental great hall and chapel inside the outer walls. Not sure if I'll use it but it did offer a solution for me.

Thats some damn good blonde. Intrestingly natural, I might add.

Youre going to put a pool on the rooftop? Must be a pretty deep pool, huh?

Got an idea for you on designing spaces. Its an interior design trick:
#1) dont get bogged down in detail or specifics at first. Instead go VERY broad and design it by spaces with different purposes.

aw, helll, I dont want to make a whole post about this stuff - let me make it simple: flip through a few books at the bookj store about floor plans for blondes - sorry - floor plans for dummies (is there a difference?) and find one that shows circles roughly drawn out representing the different spaces - that idea works pretty well. after you get that basic idea down you can tweak it into a rough draft.

Oh #$@^@&! I started this and now I need coffee and I wanna run away and not finish it.
Crap-ola.
You'd better appreciate this, you punk. Im gonna go and sketch something and then post it and ... gerrrrr! .. oh, #%$#! Ok! fine... (blonde!) I need coffee! (wines like baby)

See my sketch: once youve figured out what space you want and their aproximate sizes and general relationship to eachother and youve penciled in the flow lines from one to the others, this tells you where you should have walls and where there should be a pass-thru and what should be open and blah,blah,blah.

LMAO...ok....I'm blonde, I babble, I'm a closet SCAer, and now I'm a punk and a dummy....geez...what the hell did I do to you guys? I only called you guys Barbarians.....

quit yer whining, have some coffee [_]3

thanks for the info....

You forgot WOMP.

Nah - Hey, Ive been fussy lately. Quality of my posting has dropped also. Ive been caught up in plenty other stuff and its not changing until I hack through it, unfortunately.
Dont even try to lay a guilt trip on my pineapple-eating self 'cause it aint happening! You can beat me and toss me in a stream at the convention ... maybe...actually, by the time the convention rolls around well have plenty of stuff to beat eachother up for, eh? Sounds like a blast. Travel 6,000 miles to get my but kicked. Yea!
In any case, dont worry, I still admire all you guys.

Not worried at all...I'm gonna see how many different things I can be called you guys....I figure it this way...if ya didn't like me, ya wouldn't even bother calling me names!

If we didn't want you around why would we bother giving you a hard time?
Yeah so your a valuable member, we need you here in the site, enjoy your posts, look forward to talking with you, miss you when you don't show up,
Ok...so...I'm about to puke with all this nicey nice stuff, excuse me....

It's the Castle Duncan Hazing Program....all new castle builders have to go through a three-month pot-shot endurment period before actually being taken seriously. The worse the Hazing, the more we like you! Welcome to the moat. Laundry's over there, by the way....

LOL.....love you guys

Ah..so now I get it (must be an aquarian thing)! Well, suppose I need to sign up here as well, as we are also looking to build. And too, like Duncan & Megan, are wanting to keep with a bit more of authenticity, but add just enough of the modern stuff to be comfortable (why clean a chamber pot when you can have indoor flushie privies). We have been searching the ozarks for a suitable site and believe we have found one. Still working on getting codes and such cleared though. Seemingly hard to get these backwoods folks to open their minds to a project such as this!

The plot we have chosen is all naturalized, approx. 1000 acres of Cedar, Black Walnut and Oak (very mature - only 200-300 acres cleared). A natural river and plenty of springs and ponds. We also hope to keep a preservation of wildlife and such, so should only be clearing enough needed to help finance a quarter or so of the project. With any luck this Spring should bring the deciding factor and we can get plans underway.

I would be interested to hear of any problems or success any of you have had with the various materials and such. We are looking at using stone or a stone substitute as it seems to hold up well to mother nature. I agree with the whole ditiching the split block. Many use this and it does look a bit funky (for lack of a better and still-polite word).

Sounds like your a serious contender for the first phase of the joking, but it wont come until you get used to the place, promise.

If I know Missouri theres a good chance of stone on your site which might come in handy combined with the faux stone.
Some of our roof tiles will be made here in my shop for our project and they have been subjected to over 50 years of weathering tests with good results.
For the most part we are sticking with native stone and lime.

Have you researched into selling the timber you might be clearing?

Missouri is definately not short of rock. I thank the gods many medieval gardens I am interested in were above ground and contained. LOL Hate to think of trying to plow up too much of it.

We will be checking into the type of rock available and as to how much we can quarry on site, which would later become another lake or pond. I would be very interested in your tiles and to the production of them. I haven't had much time to give to the roofing, but it is definately something needing attention. What materials are you looking at and which process? Tile of some sort I figure? The stone and lime sound nice. Are you looking at quarrying on your own land or ordering some up?

As for the timber, we have some friends in the timber business, but still researching to get the best prices and such. Last I heard prices on timber were on the rise, so much like stocks, just need to figure the best time to sell at the best profit. I would like to keep as much of the natural beauty as possible, and also look at adding a few decorative species to spice things up a bit. Absolutely love the colors of fall and spring, so would like to surround with as much color as possible.

And again, no worries. I can take most abuse with a smile...

I see you found the BYOC forum. Well, its ll over now, eh?
I sent you a welcome and a "dog identification sniffing" in Greetings and Welcome.

Ive got a Castle meeting to go to now.. gatta go. Talk later.

Well, I guess this forum's as good as any to say hello to you Galla. Hello. Or Aloha as we say over here in Hawaii. Sounds like you are pretty serious about your castle project. Good to see another brave soul. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around here. Check out the pics that Andrew posted on the interior of various castles in the forums, if you haven't already. Some decent blends of Modern/Medeival. How long have you been thinking about this?

And Aloha to you as well (Spent a few years living up near Wahiawa for a time - and missing it sorely) Lucky for me no one figured I was military due to me being portuguese and indian - kinda blended right in to the crowds! Love the culture and obake research there! Quite amazing!

and now back to our regularly scheduled programs....

Actually the castle project has been in plans since my doodling years in high school. Became a bit more reformed in College (typical three story, four tower plan with a covered interior courtyard and designed for some commercial uses) and then closer to reality with a bit more research through the years (not to mention finding someone as crazy and imaginative as I)

Don't think I have seen those pics as of yet...will be checking them out here shortly. Thanks!

And thanks White, will be checking on that and posting as well.

Ah yes...the only thing more addictive than planning to build a castle is posting on this site! I see you've caught the fever, Galla! What happened? The other castle builder sites not strong enough to get the buzz or are you just moving up to heavier stuff? I thought I was ready for CD anonymous until I looked up and saw how many posts you've had...hate to tell you this, but your gonna OD! Then again, perhaps you have a high tolerance from starting so young.....
Which is all Barbarian talk for marveling at how enthusiastic you are! Is it an Aquarian thing (Laureen, ..did you do that? I can't remember), bored silly, (I did that) or something else?...because as your new friends, we may need to intervene for your own safety...look what happened to Laureen....she actually became Barbie! LOL.

Thinking it may be a combination of no life (don't get out these days too much) and a good deal of enthusiasm. What can I say? Guess it may be that I do quite a bit of research during the day and come and go frequently. That way I don't spend hours trying to catch up on the parts I missed.

Guess too I could qualify for the stepping up to the next level as well - now have drawings, plans and notes (even pics and clippings of things that would work for interior ideas) all filed in binders and plans to start working on a smaller scale model just to have a 3-D vision of the plan. Working on being able to open it up and remove sections so I can really adjust things the way I want. Easier when trying to explain to others of the specifics for financial planning, possible contracting help, etc. Seems like people these days just don't have the brain capacity for imagination much anymore.

Thanks for the welcome though, I really have enjoyed spending time around here! Group hug! >:D<

Well I can honestly say that its really nice to have you here with us Galla.

Well, I have to say that I wish I could do this stuff all day long! But NOOOOOOO!!!! I have to baby sit a bunch of cook-monkeys so they don't burn the place down. Well, I have to say that I also enjoy your posts and it's nice to have a new face around! Glad to assist you in getting to your next stage any way I am able to, and I'm sure the rest feel the same. What's your next step?

Thanks Laureen...nice to have someone else to combat the boys eh?

Thanks Cleave.. actually I would trade places with you in a heart beat! I never was a good "stay at home" type of person. I go bonkers not having much to do. LOL And really not huge on cleaning 24/7. At least I have plenty of time to research and work on various projects.

Guess my next project will be to work on the blueprints with John, and then work on a smaller scale model to get a better idea. Still working on materials, etc. Still waiting to hear about the land we have been looking at (really don't want to have to move the project either) - too darn cheap not to build in the midwest! So for now just finalizing plans and getting things tied up so we can progress to the next stage of contracting, building supplies, more land survey, etc.

So what stage of progress are you all in now? Any pics to share? LOL I would love to hear how everything is going. I remeber seeing something about a meeting the other day...hope that went well and best of luck to you all too!

The Boys are pretty Ok by me...they have turned out to be pretty good friends...I am really glad to find another girl thats into this stuff...it allows for different types of conversations and knowledge...not saying that you can't have good conversations with the guys but its different ya know? Plus, I think you bring a weath of research and knowledge into this forum. I have some info since I have been researching for a few years but nothing like you have. Ralph and Meg have been great too.

If you don't mind me asking, I'm trying to get perspective on all of this...how large a scale do you envision this project? I'm pretty sure my project will qualify as a fortified manor at best since I really don't see me doing the huge castle thing. I have thought about a chapel and great hall for function rentals as well but don't think I want to get into the whole B&B thing.