Download and Print Out Your House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.17.07
Robot-built housing is coming. The first to be built is by Behrokh Khoshnevis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who will soon unleash his $1.5m (£940,000) robot. “We will be able to build curves and domes as easily as straight walls. “Your shoes, clothes and car are already made automatically, but your house is built by hand and it doesn’t make sense.” his system is "a fabrication process by which large-scale parts can be fabricated quickly in a layer-by-layer fashion."... "which combines ancient surface forming concepts with modern robotics technology" The researchers in Los Angeles claim their robot will be able to build the shell of a house in 24 hours. “Compared to a conventional house, the speed of construction will be increased 200-fold and the building costs will be reduced to a fifth of what they are today,” said Khoshnevis.:;Watch Professor Khoshnevis's amazing powerpoint show on how it works in construction. or visit his website here
In the UK, Dr. Rupert Soar at Loughborough University’s School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is mixing his experience studying termite structures in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he saw how termites construct giant mounds by regurgitating earth in intricate designs, with a giant inkjet printer spewing building materials. According to the Times, It involves computer-controlled robotic nozzles which pipe quick-drying liquid gypsum and concrete to form walls, floors and roofs. The British system is likely to take at least a week but will include more sophisticated design features, with the computer’s nozzle weaving in ducts for water pipes, electrical wiring and ventilation within the panels of gypsum or concrete. ::TimesOnline
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Shoes, clothes and cars made automatically? This guy does not know anythinig about production lines. Show me a non-handmade shirt or shoe. Apparently people in third world countries are automatic. Give me a break. What materials are being used? Are they hydrocarbon based?
I will stick with my "hand-made" house, although I do agree that construction quality has dramatically decreased over the past decade. All buildings should be created with efficiency in mind: thermal, electrical, layout, and construction. Contractors should spend more time on planning and analysis, and not create everything based on a profit.
I do like the idea of termite mound studies, termites can keep their mounds at 75 - 80 F when the outside temperature is at 120 F. Thousands of years of evolution will always beat hundreds of years of human innovation with simplicity and efficiency.
Ah yes, progress. Having a machine that makes things faster than humans can.
So, once machines do everything faster than humans, what exactly are six billion people on earth supposed to do?
Having looked at this guys website and presentation, all I have to ask is "what the heck is this guy smoking?"
Nifty? Sure. Green? Kind of sketchy on the details.
It might make for a well-sealed building envelope, but so does building with SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) or ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms). The web site says it would produce less waste than traditional building, but what materials is it using? Where do ceramics rate on the energy usage and green scale? How much energy does the creation of ceramics on site take? Would they really be strong enough for building in earthquake areas?
The idea of 3-D printing (which is what the termite analogous process really is) isn't really a new technology -- but while it's great for prototyping, I wouldn't see it as the next big thing in buildings. Intriguing, yes... but not much more.
well all I can say is that if this machine was created, it would take a lot of jobs from workers that really need the job. i do like the idea of using it in space and the whole termite buisiness.
oh yeah by the way shoes and clothing arent made automatically... thats one thing that made me go "huh?"
Although this is a fun idea, I question why Treehugger features this type of project? There is no way this system will be environmentally sustainable. Haven't we learned that huge mechanically systems use ridiculous amounts of energy compared to simple hand labor? Last time a checked Ford isn't remembered for his impact on sustainability. Not to mention what this device will do to the site of building. This is not sustainable design/architecture, this is man over the nature to the worst extreme.