Dutch Architect Plans 3D Printed Building 74
ExRex writes "Dutch architecture studio Universe Architecture is planning to construct a house with a 3D printer for the first time. The Landscape House will be printed in sections using the giant D-Shape printer, which can produce sections of up to 6 x 9 meters using a mixture of sand and a binding agent. Architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars of Universe Architecture will collaborate with Italian inventor Enrico Dini, who developed the D-Shape printer, to build the house, which has a looping form based on a Möbius strip. 3D printing website as saying: 'It will be the first 3D printed building in the world. I hope it can be opened to the public when it's finished.' The team are working with mathematician and artist Rinus Roelofs to develop the house, which they estimate will take around 18 months to complete. The D-Shape printer will create hollow volumes that will be filled with fiber-reinforced concrete to give it strength. The volumes will then be joined together to create the house."
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Informative)
The architect doesn't build the building - he designs it. This architect has worked out the engineering and structural complications of making a usable modern building from what are effectively giant jigsaw puzzle pieces. Now someone else would have to acquire the materials, buy the land, and actually assemble the thing. Whoever's actually going to own the building will decide what to do with it. It might be an office, or maybe an art museum, or perhaps just "a garage or something", but it's not the architect's choice.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Informative)
conversely, the structural engineer simplified the design to the most efficient shape possible - for structure. the client got a box with no windows. The MEP took that design and filled it with the necessary requirements. The client got a mechanical room in the middle of the space that took up 40% of the total volume. The landscape architect took one look at the building, and had it leveled to create a park. The civil engineer took the park and created a drainage pond and a highway overpass.
The architect then sat down with the client and said, "would you like someone to make these guys actually work well?" And then to the consultants, he said "would you like to make some money?"
Architecture has changed from it's original stature as "The Master Builder." There's simply too much complexity in most buildings for any single trade to do everything on your own. Architects act similarly to movie directors these days. They may not write the script, they may not build the sets, they may not be the one behind each camera, but their ability to bring together all these elements is what makes the work sing as a whole.
Full disclosure, I am a CS major turned architect. An architect is, admittedly, a jack of all trades, ace of none. But it's that diversity that helps us traverse so many fields.