What could be the world’s first 3D printed hotel development has just broken ground near art and design-rich Marfa, Texas. The vision of a Texas native, the noted Austin area hotelier Liz Lambert, will come together with design and logistical support from BIG and ICON. Both entities announced the project in March of 2023, at the time promising a concept defined by a high desert vernacular that equally purports a "primordial architectural language."
Their design for the expanded El Cosmico resort calls for multiple structures comprised of different organic forms to be 3D printed on a plot totaling more than 60 acres. Private residences and affordable housing units connect to a hotel with a new amphitheater for the Austin-based Long Center for the Performing Arts included.
Individually, the homes are to be realized at between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet. The project expands the process and technology behind a number of recent innovations from the Texas-based 3D printing company that we have covered in the past year-plus, including the CODEX houses that were introduced to the market for the first time in July.
"Our design for the new El Cosmico is a conversation between El Cosmico’s past and future. By testing the geometric boundaries of ICON’s 3D-printed construction, we have imagined fluid, curvilinear structures that enjoy the freedom of form in the empty desert. By using the sand, soils, and colors of the terroir as our print medium, the circular forms seem to emerge from the very land on which they stand," Bjarke Ingels describes.
The project team says they expect work on the development to be completed by the end of 2026.
Don't miss our two recent feature conversations on the subject of 3D printing and AI with Bjarke Ingels and ICON's Vice President of Building Design & Performance Melodie Yashar.
5 Comments
"By using the sand, soils, and colors of the terroir as our print medium..."
I hope this is literal, and they're actually using the dirt on the site to build the buildings, like historic adobe bricks, and like FLW in the desert.
Apparently not it is Lavacrete? Which is a "proprietary material created by ICON’s material science team to be both highly printable and incredibly strong"
Yup. It's just a concrete structure that's been colored to match the soil. I do find it odd that it's being built in a green-field site that will require extensive imported water. Overall it's the most anti-green project possible for that location.
rammed earth complicated to match the gaslighting 3d printing narrative.
Bah it looks cool truly... why can't we have nice things :(
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