Electrifying Concrete – Thorsten Klooster
BIO: Thorsten Klooster
Thorsten Klooster is a Berlin based architect and the editor of the book SMART SURFACES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN. He is a former member of the Technical Science Research Group at the Fraunhofer Institute (IPK) in Berlin and a teacher for architectural design and construction at the Brandenburg University of Technology. In 2007 he founded the architectural studio TASK in Berlin.
Abstract: Electrifying Concrete
“Electrifying concrete” talks about the development of a new concrete called DiysCrete that is able to generate electricity out of solar energy. DiysCrete is based on the technical principles of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC or DYSC), using the generating means of electrochemical reactions of organic dyes absorbing sunlight. It can be produced without toxic emissions from freely available components. DiysCrete can be seen as a possible way of approaching new materialities for the design process. Starting from the BlingCrete project on a light reflecting concrete, that began as a series of experiments with light-reflecting materials and the phenomenon of retroreflection, further novel materials derived, like the solar active DiysCrete and the conductive and responsive Magnetically Patterned Concrete. At large these are attempts for high tech low budget materials, trying to create novel ambiguous polymorphic substances that could be regarded as new manifestations of concrete.
