Why concrete?  Wouldn't a material like styrofoam be more appropriate?  
Or are these guys convinced that they must stick to a 'traditional" 
building material?


On Mar 11, 2004, at 10:11 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> BP'ers:
>  
> Well, this is it.  The end as we know it.  At least the end of 
> the printed word as we know it.  Read on:
>  
> "A robot for "printing" houses is to be trialled by the construction 
> industry.It takes instructions directly from an architect's 
> computerised drawings and then squirts successive layers of 
> concrete..."
>  
> http://www.aggregateresearch.com/press.asp?id=3889&s=m
>
>
> I like the idea of squirting concrete.  I'll have to revise my 
> business plan to include examining the squirty concrete.  Vast profits 
> ahead!
>  
> And, there's MORE!  A big savings in tea will be had!  Quote: "It can 
> work round the clock, in darkness and without tea breaks."  Note to 
> BP'ers:  Sell stock in Tetley.
>
>
> This was developed by "Engineer Behrokh Khoshnevis, at the University 
> of Southern California..."  He also thinks that it would work with mud 
> and straw.  Perhaps he is looking toward a market in Iran.  You know, 
> the traditional materials to build with in an earthquake-prone area. 
>   
> Degussa is now collaborating with him.  You may recall that they were 
> almost thrown off the Holocaust memorial job in Germany because one of 
> their predecessors produced Zyklon B fifty or so years ago.  Now they 
> produce many other chemicals, including concrete admixtures.  It is 
> unknown whether they produce mud/straw admixtures.
>  
> In parting, the article contains what has to be one of greatest 
> non-statements of the day;  "Greg Lynn, a leading architect from 
> Venice, California, said. "I believe that aesthetically there's a 
> great potential to make things that have never been seen before."  
> Spoken by somebody truly versed in sights of Muscle Beach.
>  
>  
> Steve Stokowski
> Stone Products Consultants
> Building Products Microscopy
> 10 Clark St., Ste. A
> Ashland, Mass. 01721-2145
> 508-881-6364 (ph. & fax)
> http://members.aol.com/crushstone/petro.htm