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Six-Foot 3D Printer To Build Massive Mobius Strip Landscape House: Dutch Architect Designs ‘Endless’ House

By David Cornell
Published on: 03:18 PST, Jun 10, 2016

Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars has done something with a large 3D printer that few have probably ever attempted. He took a concrete structure and turned it into a Mobius strip, or “Landscape House,” so the building literally has no ends.

There are currently no practical reasons for this structure to be made, which is probably why nobody has jumped at the chance to build it. Other than being artistic, having such an odd form would serve almost no purpose and prove to be problematic as a home. Moving furniture or any appliances into the structure would prove to be an obstacle, even for the fully-abled. It would likely end up being a playground for children at a science museum or an exhibit at a university.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWoHMnJSPo

That isn’t saying nobody will take the design and do something with it, though. There are already homes and other buildings that defy physics and have proven to be fully functional. Some of the more progressive large cities have structures that look extremely odd from the outside, including Seattle’s Space Needle. There are also houses with glass walls that exist underwater. They probably weren’t built there, but the concept has proven possible.

The 3D-printed Mobius strip structure has already been made into a bench and installed in Amsterdam this year, even though the bench was built at one-fifteenth scale.

While the structure itself might only have very limited uses, the technology used to build it could revolutionize the way buildings are made in the future. The 3D printer that makes it possible is based on a D-shaped platform, which uses a robotic arm to “print” the material in layers. Its size makes it possible to construct walls of any shape.

Sports parks might be able to take advantage of this to create inventive new places for skateboarders, as the sport is constantly evolving and the athletes involved are always looking for photogenic places to show off.

Security companies might even use it to create stronger barriers for parking lots, especially in high-crime cities.

The possibilities are there, but it’s been three years since Janjaap Ruijssenaars came up with the idea for a Mobius strip house. The shape was based on an unusual concept, which the Dutch architect revealed.

“Planet Earth doesn’t have a beginning or an ending and we were looking for a shape that has the same quality.”

With the help of Mathematician Rinus Roelofs and a team of engineers, Ruijssenaars had his concept become a design and built a six-and-a-half foot 3D printer capable of creating the structure. While ambitious, the 3D printer itself has applications that could easily speed up construction on normal buildings as well as make more inventive designs possible. It can even print squares up to 20 feet, making things like rebuilding after a disaster so much quicker.

The only real downside to the massive machine is that it will also eliminate jobs for construction workers because it will do the same job for a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time. Ruijssenaars’ 3D printer might also be on the pricey side until it can be mass produced.

The Mobius strip house might not be a practical idea, but the machine used to build it could be a revolutionary step forward in construction technology.

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[Image via Microgen/Shutterstock.com]

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