Jake McCluskey has aspired to become a roller coaster engineer since the age of five, and to pursue his dreams, he built one in the backyard of his Northern Virginia home, complete with its own drop. As you can imagine, a roller coaster takes up a lot of space, as this one manages to occupy his entire 24 feet by 15 feet backyard and loops all the way around the garden. Eventually, Jake hopes to become a mechanical engineer. Read more for a video and additional information.
Photo credit: NAARO
Innovative 3D printing techniques can now be used to build houses, but what about other structures? ETH architects and engineers from the Block Research Group in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects wanted to see just how far they could go by 3D-printing a footbridge in Venice using unreinforced concrete. Called “Striatus,” this footbridge was built with concrete blocks that form an arch, similar to the traditional masonry bridges. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
The world’s first 3D-printed steel bridge has opened to the public in Amsterdam. This project began back in 2017 when robotic 3D-metal printers were used to manufacture and assemble large sections of the bridge, but the final placement of the steel structure had to be postponed for years since the canal walls needed to be restored. Engineers hope this bridge will open a world of possibilities for architects, engineers, and designers. Read more for a video and additional information.
Most earthquake-proof residential building take at least months to complete, but this 10-story structure from China-based Broad Group only took slightly over 28-hours to erect. Located in Changsha city, the company utilized prefabricated construction systems to speed up the project, with its rooms as well as other building modules having already been prepped in a factory. These completed modules were later transported to the site on trucks. Read more for a video and additional information.
Photo credit: Teslarati
After selling nearly all of his homes, Elon Musk has reportedly moved into a $50,000 prefab Boxabl Casita home in Starbase, Texas near SpaceX headquarters. The Tesla CEO still retains an events house in the Bay Area, but may even sell that one day to a big family who would actually make use of it. His current residence is essentially a 20×20 unit that spans 400 square feet inside. Read more for a tour and additional information.
Apple has just released photos of its newest retail location at the historic Tower Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which has been one of the company’s most significant restoration projects to date. This opening marks the 26th location in the greater Los Angeles are and its nearly 100 talented retail team members will join more than 3,000 Apple Store employees across the region. Read more for a video tour, additional pictures and information.
Nestled in Fall River county near the Black Hills in South Dakota is Vivos xPoint, the world’s largest doomsday survival community comprised of individual bunkers for 575 families and a total population of 5,000. Simply put, the company converted an old army munitions depot used between 1942-1967 into this community of concrete bunkers that can endure a 500,000-pound internal blast. Residents get their fresh water from two wells, stored in reinforced concrete tanks. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Houston’s real estate market is scorching hot right now, and there’s one house that stands out from the rest. Why? It’s the unofficial “Darth Vader House”, or a 7,000-square-foot home inspired by the space opera, complete with four bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a four-car attached garage, all located an 18,000 square foot corner lot in University Place. This living space was completed in 1992 and listed by Wade Knight with Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Texas-based ICON has just unveiled their next project, called “House Zero”. It’s touted as the most incredible 3D-printed home yet since it was optimized and designed specifically to be created with their next-generation Vulcan printer. Spanning 2,000-square-feet, it features three-bedrooms, three-bathrooms and an additional one-bedroom, one-bathroom accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Read more for a video and additional information.
The 25-meter-long (82-foot-long) transparent Sky Pool that links two apartment blocks at the Embassy Gardens development at Nine Elms by EcoWorld Ballymore in London has just opened. It will allow residents and their guests to swim 35-meters (115-feet) in the air while taking in panoramic views of the city, including the US Embassy building. One thing to note is that the pool wasn’t built in Europe, but rather Colorado before being transported 5,000 miles to its final destination near the Thames. Read more for two videos and additional information.