Photo concrete
Photo concrete is a special form of exposed concrete , the surface of which is provided with permanent pictorial representations.
History of photo concrete
Ornaments have always been part of architecture . The idea of decorating concrete with pictures goes back to the 1980s. Since then, special sophisticated procedures such as B. the photo concrete process based on different setting processes or the computer-aided vectogram / milling technique , a permanent visual representation of photos and other motifs on concrete surfaces. In contrast to "painted" or "printed" concrete surfaces, photo concrete is a building material in which the motif is permanently incorporated, quasi "engraved".
Types of procedure
In the photo concrete process, which dates back to the 1980s, the photo that is to be transferred to the concrete is converted into a rasterized black and white template. This is printed on a millimeter-thick plastic film using a screen printing process . Instead of paint, a setting retarder is applied in layers of different thickness. The photo concrete film is inserted into the concrete formwork and the material is poured over it. The setting retarder causes the concrete to harden at different rates in different places. This creates rough and smooth surfaces as well as light-dark gradients. The light areas of the subject remain smooth, the dark areas are washed out. After 16 to 24 hours, the concrete part can be stripped and washed with low water pressure.
The vectogram technique is a process in which image information is transferred to the panel material using a milling technique. This model then serves as a template for making a mold of the photo concrete object. After the formwork has been removed, a structure of ridges is visible in the concrete, which only comes together from a certain distance through the effects of light and shadow to form a complete picture. A final impregnation protects the images from dirt and efflorescence .
In the photolith process, the concrete surface is not processed while the concrete is being poured or hardened, but after it has been removed by masking the surface with an imaging film and then acidifying the concrete skin. This creates a colored light / dark contrast between the exposed, acidified surfaces and the masked, protected surfaces.
use
Due to the costs and the demanding technical implementation, photo concrete is more of a niche product. However, the demand for individual design of concrete surfaces is growing. The photo concrete is particularly suitable for the individual surface design of representative building facades, for special elements of gardening and landscaping, as flooring or for individual furniture made of concrete.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.heidelbergcement.com/NR/rdonlyres/E2C8B879-88E3-4CEE-8065-13197F9F00AD/0/context_02_2005.pdf
- ^ Joachim Schulz: Fair-faced concrete - Atlas. Planning - execution - examples . Vieweg + Teubner, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8348-0261-3 , page 324 Google Books
- ↑ Hebau GmbH, D-Sonthofen, patent no. 10321596