Overview
A 3D printed house? Ten years ago, we would have thought this a mere pipe dream. But since we're printing everything from office blocks to bikes tailored to your body these days, this shouldn't come as a shock. Chicago-based architecture firm WATG has unveiled solid plans to turn this lofty idea into reality, proposing the world's first freeform, 3D printed house.
Winning first prize in the Freeform Home Design Challenge, a competition sponsored by Branch Technology, the WATG design, entitled 'Curve Appeal', consists of two structural components: an interior core and an exterior skin. The living spaces are all open and include a kitchen, bath, living area and one bedroom. Stunning 360-degree glass walls are meant to give the sense of being directly connected to the natural surroundings of the house — so you might want to keep some distance between you and your neighbours. The whole futuristic, spaceship-like envelope is connected with carefully calculated archways that are said to "establish an organic presence" — whatever that means.
The design, while clearly pushing the envelope of possibility, also uses economical methods for building — as well as sustainable, with solar panels hidden within the design. This world-first house is not only unconventional, but has previously been wholly inconceivable.
This type of work from WATG is no surprise — the firm is internationally renowned for their innovation, with previous designs including a few Four Seasons, a Saudi Arabian city called 'King Abdullah Economic City' and a SkyPark in the Gulf. All of their designs look like structures from an incredibly well-funded sci-fi film, not buildings that will, and do, actually exist.
Construction on 'Curve Appeal' is expected to start as soon as 2017 and Bonnaroo Festival-goers will be happy to hear the first site is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While the public has been given no indication of how much the house will cost to build, we can only imagine how epic this would be if future iterations are made affordable to the masses. With 3D printing becoming more accessible by the day, this future may not be too far from reality.
Via Design Boom. Images: Daniel Caven, WATG.