Light-Transmitting Concrete Fa?????ade Premieres

For the Aachen University project (pictured), designed by Aachen-based architects Carpus & Partner, optical fibers were incorporated into 136 separate 150cm by 50cm concrete panels, forming an area 30m wide by 4m high. Previous projects featuring the light transmitting concrete panels include the headquarters of the Bank of Georgia in Tbilisi, where the panels were used to create light-filled accent walls and office partitions.

Concrete, the world's most-used building material, is usually a drab backdrop for the people and events that live and work around it. A new "media fa?????ade," unveiled in December at RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany, is changing that with light-emitting concrete panels developed by German concrete manufacturer LUCEM.

Each panel is fitted with color-changing technology, and the colors are timed to appear brighter approximately one hour before sunset. The light panels are made with red, green and blue chips, which control more than 16 million colors.

The LED-panels are controlled using an internet-based DMX technology system, with each panel containing three percent optical fibers. The panels can be controlled independently, making the entire fa?????ade into a large display screen. The light shows on the screen can be controlled via the Internet or a mobile device, and interactive elements as well as text and logos can be displayed on the screen.

The panels have various uses, according to LUCEM, who offer three different versions of ???(R)???AE????Lichbeton panels, each with different effects for the user. With the LUCEM???(R)???AE???? Label panels, light transmitting fibers are arranged individually so that clients can display design logos, images, names, signatures and icons on the panels.

The LUCEM???(R)???AE???? Line panel, has a fine-meshed surface, giving the impression of a lightweight structure that also reveals silhouetted objects. The LUCEM???(R)???AE???? Starlight panels contain larger light transmitting fibers that give the effect of brightly lit spots appearing on the surface of the concrete.