Amsterdam firm DUS architects started printing the first building blocks of a 3D-printed canal house Friday.

In order to do that, the architects bought a shipping container and with the help of 3D-printer maker Ultimaker they converted it into a huge version of a desktop 3D printer. That larger-than-life 3D printer sits on a vacant lot beside a canal in the northern part of Amsterdam. If everything goes well, it will be the home of the first printed canal house within the next three years.

The plan is for the front of the house to measure 15 meters high, 6 meters wide and 6 meters deep, while adding a back to the house of the same size if possible within the same time frame.

The container-sized printer is called KamerMaker, which is Dutch for room builder. It uses bioplastic pellets of a material called Macromelt that is based on rapeseed oil. It was developed by Henkel, a company based in Dsseldorf, Germany, that manufactures adhesives for the electronics industry, said Hedwig Heinsman, co-founder of DUS architects. Macromelt can easily be shredded and reused when a piece doesnt come out the right way, she said.

That is convenient because the first blocks probably wont make it to the house, said Hans Vermeulen, one of the other co-founders. The first blocks are meant to be test pieces to learn where the faults in the construction of the blocks are, he said.

A 3-meter high block currently takes about a week to complete. Eventually, we would like to be able to finish one within two hours, said Vermeulen.

The 3-meter high block being printed Friday indeed showed errors when it was only a couple of centimeters high. The printer did not always manage to spread the Macromelt evenly, making some of the ribs of the honeycomb structure of the block uneven. Those errors eventually will be straightened out in a printed block and dont really affect the strength of the structure, according to Vermeulen.

Maybe in three years we will have printed the house four times, upgrading the house based on the gained knowledge, he said, adding that printing a house is still a process of trial and error.

DUS architects is planning to finish the first of 13 planned rooms this summer. Meanwhile, the site will remain open to the public during the building process and those interested can take a look around for 2.50 (US$3.45).

Loek Essers focuses on online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues. More by Loek Essers

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Slideshow: Amsterdam architects start printing a 3D canal house

Chevelle, La Gargola art + tracklist -- Architects, Gravedigger -- Gamma Ray, Hellbent -- Insomnium
Chevelle new album La Gargola artwork and tracklist released -- Architects new track Gravedigger audio preview -- Gamma Ray new video for new track Hellbent ...

By: rockandmetalnewz

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Chevelle, La Gargola art + tracklist -- Architects, Gravedigger -- Gamma Ray, Hellbent -- Insomnium - Video

Architects - Broken Cross | THE COVER
I did my best to accomplish this one perfectly. Much respect to this great band. Hope you like 🙂 Recording Device: Line6 Toneport Gx Software: Cubase 5 Vide...

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Architects - Broken Cross | THE COVER - Video

Central Park Sydney Australia HD 01 2014 02 22 13:51
Central Park Sydney Australia HD 01 Central Park, visit http://www.centralparksydney.com/ The world #39;s best cities are not defined by their architecture alone...

By: AdinaOnLine

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Central Park Sydney Australia HD 01 2014 02 22 13:51 - Video

Architects - Naysayer (Guitar cover) HD
Pre-order Lost Forever // Lost Together at http://smarturl.it/architectslflt I do not own this song. All copyrights belong to Epitaph Records and Architects.

By: Cesar Ruelas

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Architects - Naysayer (Guitar cover) HD - Video

Local architects build high-end shelters for feral cats
Local architects build high-end shelters for feral cats. http://wj.la/1fB2VaE.

By: ABC7 WJLA

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Local architects build high-end shelters for feral cats - Video

Lancaster Bible College - Teague Learning Commons - Interior Animation Walkthrough
Here is a quick walk through of the newest building on Lancaster Bible College #39;s campus.

By: Cornerstone Design-Architects

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Media release 27 February 2014

Klein Architects complete landmark Red Zone building

Specialist health architectural firm, Klein have played a vital part in the new $55m Fort Hospital that was recently opened by Prime Minister John Key. Located in the heart of Christchurchs Red Zone area, the building marks a significant and historic milestone as the first significant new building to be completed in the red zone since the 2011 earthquake.

The state-of-the-art surgical facility situated on Peterborough Street replaces the Oxford Clinic building that incurred significant earthquake damage and was later demolished in 2012.

As a result of their award winning work within the New Zealand health sector, Klein Architects were commissioned in 2012 by Forte Health to complete the specialist interior fit-out working with the base-build architects Wilson and Hill. An important part of the client brief was to create an interior that was both environmentally sound and sustainable so we have incorporated a whole raft of initiatives aimed at making it as energy efficient as possible, says Melanie Mason, lead architect for the project. The projects sustainable design has resulted in a 4 Green Star Design rating by the New Zealand Green Building Council. This is a real honour as its the first time this award has been given to a medical facility in New Zealand.

The key challenge for us was the speed of the project. Construction of the building commenced while we were still finishing design of the fitout. Design was completed in just eight months and from start to finish the complex took only 18 months to construct, which is a remarkable feat.

The buildings roll call of eco credentials include solar power, smart lighting system, heat recovery air conditioning system, waste reduction and a specialist built in energy optimising building management system.

Unlike similar medical buildings the architects have incorporated an atrium in an attempt to allow natural light to permeate into areas of the building that would normally be forced to rely on artificial light. This clever design tactic has allowed light to flood into the four operating theatres and 12 bed recovery areas helping to make these areas much more pleasant environments. The overall interior has been carefully crafted around the specialist needs of patients and staff.

Dorothy Paton, Fort Healths General Manager says the specialists and stakeholders are thrilled with the environment that has been created for patients, visitors and staff. The building has been designed by healthcare professionals, which has provided the best outcome for all. We have had some amazing feedback about the light, room flow and design of the building. Klein Architects proved to be an excellent design partner.

As New Zealands leading specialists within the health field, the recent completion of the Fort Hospital follows on from other major projects such as the new five storey clinical services building at Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland for Counties Manukau DHB. This $140m, 30,000m development sees the creation of 14 operating theatres, a 43 bed recovery suite and a 42 bed assessment and planning unit. Klein continues their work in Christchurch leading the masterplanning and health design of the major redevelopment of the Burwood Health Campus which is now under construction.

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Klein Architects complete landmark Red Zone building

S

In London this year, six well-known architects will jockey for a chance to build a large public building. Sounds pretty unremarkable, right? Except that the structure was already designed and finishedmore than 150 years ago. Now, a Chinese property developer is holding a design competition to recreate it.

The building in question is the Crystal Palacethe elegant but hulking structure that was designed to house the 1851 Great Exhibition. It's been remade in different iterations several timesonce in England, once in New York, and once even in Dallas. But now, the palace is coming home to London. The Chinese developer behind the plan, Zhongrong Group, is putting up more than $800 million to rebuild the structure on its original site.

S

This week, it announced a shortlist of six architects who will submit designs to do it. The list includes Zaha Hadid and Anish Kapoor, Nicholas Grimshaw, David Chipperfield, Marks Barfield, Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, and Hawthorn Tompkinsnames responsible for some of London's most notable new structures, like the Millennium Dome, the Olympic Aquatic Center, and the Royal Court Theatre.

So, why even bother? Well, to architects and historians, the Crystal Palace is big deal. A really big deal. It was the building that, in some ways, foreshadowed modern architecture. It looks ornate and decorative, but this was a structure based on cold, calculated functionality. The whole thing was organized around the largest pane of glass available at that timeitself nothing short of a technological wonderwhich defined the proportions and layout of the building.

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The steel framework that held these glass panes was modular and prefabricatedwords pretty much unknown in 1853. Each module arrived at the site of the palace pre-made, and only needed to be screwed into place. The whole thing was built in record time, and became the largest prefab structure ever built. It was a blueprint for the next 150 years of architecturea super-light, super-cheap steel skeleton built to house the latest technological marvels of the day.

You know the morbid phenomenon in which an artist or musician's premature death bolsters the public's appreciation of their work? It's true for architecture, too. After the original Crystal Palace was relocated in 1854, it burned down in 1926and the memorializing began.

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Why Architects Are Competing to Reconstruct a Building From 1851

Troy

A family retreat on Burden Lake in Rensselaer County and the adaptive reuse of the Malone Middle School building in Franklin County received top honors at the 2013 Design Awards event of the American Institute of Architects' Eastern New York chapter.

The awards were presented at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy.

The Brass Residence, a 2,300-square-foot, two-story, four-bedroom lake house, was designed by a team led by Scott Townsend, founder and principal of Albany-based 3t Architects.

The group turned an existing camp into a contemporary lakeside retreat that eventually will become a primary home.

CSArch of Albany received the honor award for its work on the Malone Middle School, transforming an existing building into what the jury said "was a more inviting space capturing the essence of the original facade... ." The submitting architect was Randolph J. Collins.

Troy-based architecture + received a merit award for historic preservation for its exterior rehabilitation of Husted Hall at the University at Albany's downtown campus, and an institutional merit award for its design of the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital in Worcester, Mass. The submitting architect on the Husted Hall project was J. Michael Bergen, while Francis Murdock Pitts was the submitting architect for the Worcester project.

James Dixon Architect PC of Chatham received merit awards for a party barn in Sharon, Conn. and a village house in Kinderhook

JMZ Architects & Planners of Glens Falls received a merit award for the Fulton Campus at River Glen (renovation/addition/adaptive reuse category), the conversion of a strip mall into a campus for Cayuga Community College in Fulton. The submitting architect was Karen Kilgore-Green.

The event was Thursday.

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Capital Region architects win awards for work