You can buy luxury cars from a vending machine in Singapore, but that may seem like a drop in the bucket when compared to what a company wants to do in Japan. A conceptual skyscraper in Tokyo plans on giving buyers the option of living in an apartment unit that can be manufactured on the spot and then dispensed into the building ready to live in.
The larger-than-life house dispenser, called the Pod Vending Machine by the building’s creator, will use a 3D printer on the top of the structure that will build the modular homes on-site. Mobile cranes and mechanical arms will then move the pods and place them into a vast, frame-like megastructure.
The project was designed by Haseef Rafiei, a Malaysian architect based in the UK. The project won a honourable mention at the 2017 Skyscraper Competition by eVolo Magazine. The proposed tower is designed using the Japanese tradition of “wabi-sabi,” a notion of letting something remain incomplete over time.
The Pod Vending Machine pic via Haseef Rafiei
The building is designed to be in a constant state of construction, with the printer rising in height as demand for the pods increases. Building materials will be sent to the 3D printer using a hydraulic system flanking the building. There will be no waste at the tower as materials from pods that are no longer in use will be recycled by the printer.
Unlike vending machines which only have a limited selection of items, units at the twoer will not all be the same. The pods can be customised to the specifications of the purchaser. Certain items like toilets and kitchens can be installed and taken out. Buyers will also have the ability to acquire more pods to expand their space.
The designer wanted to create a project that solved environmental issues created by abandoned building projects in Japan. The goal was to have a development that closed the loop in construction wastage.
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