Photo credit: MVRDV
A residential tower that looks like it was yanked from the pixelated plains of Minecraft is set to rise in Taipei’s Tianmu neighborhood. Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, known for its boundary-pushing designs, has unveiled Out of the Box, a 25-story residential structure that’s as much a playful nod to blocky aesthetics as it is a clever response to Taiwan’s complex building regulations.
Photo credit: Benjamin Hofer / Nova Fundaziun Origen
In Mulegns, Switzerland, a village of just 11 residents, Tor Alva, the world’s tallest 3D-printed tower, stands 98.4 feet tall (30 meters). Officially unveiled on Tuesday (May 20), this collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Origen was designed to host art, music, and theater.
At first, Wolf Ranch’s homes look like stylish, modern houses with a touch of Texas Hill Country charm. But a closer peek shows their big secret: they’re made by ICON’s Vulcan II, a huge 3D printer that builds them layer by layer using a special concrete mix called “Lavacrete.” The result is a collection of single-story homes ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, with three to four bedrooms and two to three bathrooms, priced between $450,000 and $600,000—competitive for the Austin metro area.
Remember The Line? If not, it’s basically a part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM project, a 170-km-long linear megacity under construction in the Tabuk desert, envisioned as a futuristic, zero-carbon urban hub. Things are well underway and construction is progressing nicely, or so we think.
The first 3D-printed Starbucks in the US opened near SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in Brownsville, Texas, at 2491 Boca Chica Boulevard. This is a 1,400-square-foot, drive-thru and walk-up-only location with no indoor seating. Why? It’s designed for quick service, catering to the area’s growing traffic near the base.
Photo credit: ChatGPT
You’ve seen the ChatGPT-powered plush koala bear, now here’s how you can turn yourself into a toy action figure using OpenAI’s service. It’s pretty easy and uses ChatGPT’s picture-making skills, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model.
Have $14,000 burning a hole in your pocket and lots of land? You can actually buy a 2-story luxury flat-pack container home on Amazon, complete with a garage. However, there are some major drawbacks including not having a bathroom, or at least the way it ships. Put simply, their descriptions leave a lot to be desired, unlike this real Airbnb shipping container home.
Wolf Ranch kicked off the 3D-printed home communities that we see across the US, and now, ICON has begun work on Mueller in Austin, Texas. Homes – 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, and bungalow – will range in size from between 650 to 2,400-square-feet, priced from $350,000 USD.
