If you look at pictures of Dubai from 20 or even 10 years ago, it looks vastly different from today. It seems almost as if the city sprouted up over night but apparently the rapid development could potentially get even faster.
Dubai plans to print new buildings. That's right, we said print.
The emirate announced that it will print an entire small office building using a 3-D printer. The move will serve to develop technology anticipated to cut costs and time as the rapid development of the city continues.
According to Reuters, Mohamed Al Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs, explained that the first printed building will be one level, have about 185 square meters of floor space, and will be printed layer-by-layer using a 20-foot tall printer.
Some assembly will still be required on the construction site but will take a matter of weeks instead of months, or years. Furniture for the interior will also be printed.
To complete this latest venture, Dubai will partner up with Winsun, a Chinese 3-D printing company that has pioneered the technology to build houses. Gergawi also said that the new technique could cut construction time by as much as 50 to 70 percent and labor costs by even more.
Of course, the small office may not be as grand as the Burj Khalifa or the Burj Al Arab, but regardless, printed buildings? We're impressed.
