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Urban Glass

Viewing: Curiosities

Saturday October 2, 2010 | by Kim Harty

Glass Curiosities: Concrete made translucent through glass fibers
FILED UNDER: Curiosities
What material is as strong as concrete, can be over a meter thick, and yet transmits light? Litracon (LIght TRAsmitting CONcrete), invented by Hungarian architect Áron Losonczi, is a concrete building material which can display light and shadow. “Thousands of optical glass fibers form a matrix and run parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of every block,” Losonczi explained in an article for a photonics industry trade magazine.

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Friday August 6, 2010 | by Lee Brooks

Glass Curiosities: Ten-foot solar-powered flower sculpture doubles as environmental tracking device
FILED UNDER: Curiosities
Heliotropis, a recently-completed work by Anthony Castronovo, is perhaps atypical even in the rather rarefied genre of ten-foot tall flower sculptures, given its LED technology, solar panels, sensors for monitoring temperature, humidity, wind speed, and ground vibrations, in addition to a sensor that tracks light, allowing for the flower’s glass petals to “bloom” in the morning and for an LED light-fixture to be activated in the evening. Take that, Balloon Flower!

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Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.