"Khoshnevis has tested his prototype with cement but believes adobe, a mix of mud and straw that is dried by the Sun, could be suitable. But Degussa [the Professor's corporate backer] will be looking at other materials.
"Gerhard Albrecht, head of research at Degussa's speciality materials subsidiary, Admixture, says the company is ready to develop materials specifically for the contour crafting technology." (emphasis supplied)
I think dropping the word adobe into the article was just p.r. to make the project sound eco-friendly. Notice the reBlog headline writer ran with that. Once Degussa comes up with the perfect miracle goo you won't hear about Adobe again. Pardon my cynicism.
Once they get this up and running, only the well-to-do will be able to hire the machines and a decent designer for a single house. Everyone else will get economical large groupings of modern mud huts.
For the record, I went inside a Frank Lloyd Wright prototype Usonian house (all-concrete) years ago and found it incredibly dark and oppressive.
I prefer your idea of shipping containers (as long as they have windows cut in them) because they're ready-to-hand, recyclable materials. There's so much stuff already in the world without adding more grey goo to it.
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Once they get this up and running, only the well-to-do will be able to hire the machines and a decent designer for a single house. Everyone else will get economical large groupings of modern mud huts.
For the record, I went inside a Frank Lloyd Wright prototype Usonian house (all-concrete) years ago and found it incredibly dark and oppressive.
I prefer your idea of shipping containers (as long as they have windows cut in them) because they're ready-to-hand, recyclable materials. There's so much stuff already in the world without adding more grey goo to it.
- tom moody 3-11-2004 6:58 pm