Making light-transmitting concrete sounds like an impossible and ridiculous task, but it turns out that it’s actually a simple project with mesmerisingly beautiful results. You’ll just need to grab some craft clay, concrete mix and fibre optic wires.
The modern world has rediscovered how to build really tough concrete by using geopolymers, or concrete that does not need firing. Ancient Romans used the technique to build the Pantheon; Egyptians, the Pyramids. The US? Bunkers that resist all-but-nukes.
It can be bent into a U-shape, “heals” cracks with nothing more than rainwater, and is strong enough to build bridges from. Is Victor Li’s composite building material really even concrete anymore?
Having humidifiers in your home can sometimes change its aesthetic atmosphere, sometimes even making you look sickly. But with this Concrete Block Humidifier’s simple, yet ultra-sleek design, you can now avoid drying up—in style.
Check out this lengthy vid: it shows how one day you may just call-in giant robots to print out a new home based on a CAD model. Research into the concrete-jet printer is being carried out by USC, and their technology can already build up complex concrete structures using technology that’s half-CNC machine and half inkjet-like. They’ve just got funding from Caterpillar to further the research. Amazing stuff, especially when the team says it should be eventually be able to put together a 2,000-square-foot, two storey home in just a day, with all the wiring and plumbing automatically inserted too. Even NASA is interested, as this may be a good solution for building Moonbases. [The Register via Bot Junkie]
The small Dutch town of Hengelo is about to test out a new kind of concrete paving slab that actually grabs onto the car-exhaust pollutant nitrogen oxide (a key smog and acid rain ingredient) sucking it out of the air and rendering it harmless. The special bricks contain a component based on titanium dioxide that acts to “fix” the pollutant with the aid of sunlight. The best bit is that the resulting nitrates just wash away with the next rain. Clever stuff: and if the trial results next summer show improved air quality, I’m sure we’ll see environmentalists dancing along singing “Follow the green concrete road!” Or something. [Physorg]
Each time someone buys one of these limited-edition concrete coffee tables, the designers subtract a pre-planned chunk from the next one they’ll sell. So, it’s self-destruction in an expensive, arty, musical-chairs-meets-LEGO kind of way rather than a Mission Impossible explosion. “This Table Will Self Destruct” is intriguing, though: does its shrinkage represent less value for money each time, or do you get increased “art” as each chunk gets nibbled away? Only 23 chunks have been zapped so far, so you can buy a nearly complete one today or wait for it to get holier—both options will cost you US$1700 for two. [Product at Studio1am via Nerd Approved]
A mixture of traditional concrete and fiber-optics, TranslucentConcrete (not to be confused with translucent concrete—yes, I know) can be used by architects to make load-bearing walls a little more see-through than they normally are. Check the amazing effects in the gallery below.
