A Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars of Universe Architecture in Amsterdam on Wednesday has unveiled a unique 3D printer with which he wants to construct a building. He aims to build a big building without ‘beginning or end’ shaped like an infinite loop. The architect said, “It is just like a normal printer which he has dubbed the Landscape House.”
Instead of putting ink onto paper, they put a liquid onto sand which solidifies wherever the liquid has been spread. Ruijssenaars aims to print the Mobius strip-shaped building with around 12,000 square feet of floor space using the massive D-Shape printer.
The 3D printer is designed by Italian Enrico Dini which can print up to almost a six-metre-by-six-metre square (20-foot-by-20-foot). This is done using a computer to help printer to build up fine layers of 5-10 mm thick.
The machine has been set up in a warehouse in Amsterdam where the final tests are going on. Once the tests were carried out successfully, they start building. “The ambition was to make a building that has an infinite structure, like planet Earth. Planet Earth doesn’t have a beginning or an ending and we were looking for a shape that has the same quality,” said Ruijssenaars.
During tests, it didn’t come out in a circle shape, but a very complex shape like Mobius strip. This project was first unveiled in 2013 and the team has been in touch with various partners hoping to be able to start construction in near future.
However, it will not be the world’s first 3D building; as such projects have been undertaken in China and Dubai, although using a different method.