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Giant Building to be "Printed Out" and Assembled [w/pics]

treehugger.com — "To build the museum, which is currently in design development, Roche plans to take 1,000 locally harvested trees, turn them into plywood, and mill them into fragments 2.5 meters wide by 7 meters long. They are going to build it with a monster CNC machine in Lausanne, like stacking up a loaf of bread."

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 7, 2007

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  • Jadey, on 12/07/2007, -1/+13Just because you CAN doesn't mean you should. That is one butt-ugly building!
  • brianhatch, on 12/07/2007, -3/+13Good lord, what a hideous construction! It looks like some sort of plastic bags held together with burlap. And why build it out of the wood of a thousand trees? Does that not seem a bit wasteful?
  • DreKor, on 12/07/2007, -0/+6They're already doing this on a limited basis. Mostly with concrete.

    http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/rival-robots-pr ...
    http://discovermagazine.com/2005/apr/whole-house-m ...
  • TheKrillr, on 12/07/2007, -1/+7Actually i'd say 3dsMax'd or Maya3d'd
  • vagrantwade, on 12/07/2007, -4/+10Is the design suppose to look retarded or is that just a coincidence?
  • JasonHofmann, on 12/07/2007, -1/+6Really? An artist's rendering of a yet-to-be-constructed building was Photoshopped? Errr.. I mean "enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software." I'm shocked.
  • allaboutdatiki, on 12/07/2007, -3/+7how long until we see house building robots? 10 years?
  • inactive, on 12/07/2007, -0/+4imagine what else you could make with that 8 axis robot CNC!
    they should make some roger dean buildings.
  • inertic, on 12/07/2007, -3/+6Yeah cutting down a thousand native trees is sooo eco-friendly.
  • JasonHofmann, on 12/07/2007, -1/+4It's intentional.
  • detales, on 12/07/2007, -1/+4Hey wait a second - I think the building looks pretty damn cool. Its easy to say it looks lame when seeing it in a computer monitor, but imagine being there.
    Sweet stuff.
  • notthemama, on 12/07/2007, -3/+6I'd imagine that the locally harvested trees are grown specifically for lumber, in which case new trees will be planted there to replace them.

    In other words, wood is a renewable resource. It would be far different if they chopped down a virgin forest to get the wood.
  • mstoneburner, on 12/07/2007, -3/+5That's the ugliest excuse for a building I've ever seen.
  • griz, on 12/07/2007, -2/+4and...NO.
  • rupertmorris, on 12/07/2007, -2/+4Well, it's different, if not better or good looking. Change != progress.
  • themastersb, on 12/07/2007, -0/+2I dunno. I thought we were supposed to have flying cars by now, but we don't even have electric ones yet.
  • funkydude101, on 12/07/2007, -0/+2Agreed.
  • griz, on 12/07/2007, -1/+3Yea, how many houses can you build from 1000 trees?
  • extratired, on 12/07/2007, -2/+4looks like shrek's place
  • meadot01, on 12/07/2007, -1/+2Where do you find 2.5 * 7 meter scrap plywood?
  • MindTrigger, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1I agree with the few of you who said they like this design. The other part of this discussion is philosophical. I have always found it strange that humans decided at some point to put EVERYTHING into boxes. Our homes are unnatural boxes placed on (normally) unnatural grid road systems that fight the contours of the land. Look at San Francisco. The design of that city, a grid, placed over top of all that rolling land has created a city with ridiculously dangerous roads in some areas.

    Many towns and cities suffer the same design flaw. When did humans decide that everything needs to be contained within straight lines, while the rest of the planet is decidedly "wiggley"? It may not be practical to build a home like the one in this article, due to the way building technology has unfortunately evolved, but I love how well it blends into the natural surroundings, and gets rid of all the straight lines and corners.
  • cfuse, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1This is ugly - I don't care how it's made or what it's made from if it's an eyesore.
  • funkydude101, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Well looking at how huge this building is...I would say that 1000 trees ain't so bad, considering that's basically all it's made out of. And trees are a renewable resource.
  • BufordT, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1A museum for ice?
  • yoda17, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1What's the definition of 'local'? My backyard, 5, 10, 100, 1000 miles? I never saw very many trees growing up in Arizona, well, the southern half at least. And saguaros don't make very good building material.
  • KevInTx, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1WOW... what a FUGLY design! I normally like unusual architecture but that just doesn't do it for me.

    It looks like a bad prop from the movie Buckaroo Bonsai... so where are the black electroids??
  • notthemama, on 12/07/2007, -1/+2I totally agree. But having a machine put together the building IS progress, even if the result is ugly.

    One day, maybe, it will be easy and cheap to have a home rebuilt from scratch. Only I guess the electric, gas, plumbing, and cable installation will still take 3 months.
  • griz, on 12/07/2007, -2/+3NO
  • dhughes, on 12/07/2007, -2/+3 Why not just use existing plywood or scrap wood? Not for ecological reasons but for cost, if it's already available why bother going through all the effort or harvesting 1000 trees just to make plywood?
  • neodorian, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Has anyone read "The Diamond Age"? This reminds me of when they grew that whole island out of nano-assemblers for that rich girl's birthday. Obviously not the same thing but along the same basic lines.
  • erkokite, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Looks like a Zerg unit.
  • travbrack, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Worst. Idea. Ever.
  • alexsimon, on 01/24/2009, -0/+1This is an extreme project. Some friends of mine argue that it is ugly, but I find it very interesting. It will fit very well in the scene of Lausanne Switzerland. That city already looks great, I can't wait to visit it again. http://www.discoverlausanne.com is a great place to see other buildings there too.
  • inactive, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Thats one ugly building. Cant say Im impressed. Buried.
  • pharekyz, on 12/07/2007, -1/+2Step 1: Build a ridiculously stupid looking building
    Step 2: ????
    Step 3: PROFIT!!!
  • MindTrigger, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Always research indiginous peoples from your area if you want to know what resources to use. Arizona has many different types of terrain ranging from tree-filled mountains, to desert. It sounds like you may live in the desert where stone and adobe would have been used by the local tribes. Caves were used too, and can inspire some cool home designs.
  • MindTrigger, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Wasteful compared to what? Flying/trucking in materials that are not found in the region?
  • MindTrigger, on 12/07/2007, -0/+1Bamboo is the way to go for this type of construction, if it will grow in the area. Bamboo has many advantages over trees including, faster regrowth, stronger material, and it puts more oxygen into the atmosphere.
  • MindTrigger, on 12/07/2007, -1/+2Compared to what? When you compare human rectalinear construction to the rest of the natural shapes on the planet, it's our ***** that looks retarded and out of place.
  • naterpoke, on 12/07/2007, -1/+1LADIES AND JENTLEMEN WE HAVE ALBERT EINSTEIN JR.
  • IncognitoCraven, on 12/08/2007, -0/+0It depends on three and where it is. Cutting down pine trees in the South African mountains: good (they suck up much of the little available water). Chopping down giant redwoods: bad (rare, climate controlling). Yes, this is in AZ not ZA, but the intent is to point out your overly simplistic reaction.

    fvck captcha
  • shark615, on 12/07/2007, -3/+3Looks like a pile of ***** after a night of eating peas.
  • liquisoft, on 12/07/2007, -2/+1I'm hoping that this structure supports some sort of eco-friendly ideas or something. Like, maybe its shape helps it acquire rainwater. Or maybe it can collect an optimal amount of sun for solar paneling. I dunno...it's just so freaking ugly.
  • Jahweh, on 12/07/2007, -2/+1thats a well funny stereotype haha
  • JoelBakan01, on 12/07/2007, -5/+4All enviro hippies care about is 'alternative,' if it isn't plastic they'll like it and if it's ***** they'll love it.
  • erkokite, on 12/07/2007, -3/+1RETARDED FISH SQUIRREL!
  • inactive, on 12/07/2007, -5/+1A friend of mine just got an intern position at this guys practice in Paris. She is very excited, I am not a fan. I do respect him for getting more extreme kind of projects realised, but still, not a fan.
  • SmpleJohn, on 12/07/2007, -10/+4Am I allowed to use the word, irony? Or does hypocrite suite better?
  • naterpoke, on 12/07/2007, -11/+3CLEARLY PHOTOSHOPPED

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