Dynamic information display within concrete surfaces
Chris Glaister, Afshin Mehin, and Tomas Rosen developed Chronos Chromos Concrete in order to animate a ubiquitous material. Intrigued by the fact that concrete structures tend to age, discolor, and degrade over a period of decades, the designers came up with the idea of integrating thermochromatic pigment and timekeeping devices within a concrete matrix in order to make the material more dynamic and engaging.
In their first prototype clock, a band of white travels smoothly across an undulating dark gray surface once per minute. A digital display of minutes and hours is represented by a series of constant white lines.
Since winning first prize in the BCA concrete creativity awards, Chronos Chromos Concrete has been crafted into clocks for the home and office and is currently being developed as a 40 x 78 inch (100 x 200 centimeter) dot-matrix information display for the entrance hall of a new building in London.
Contact: Chromastone UK, London, UK.
For more information, see Transmaterial 2: A Catalog of Materials That Redefine our Physical Environment
