A self-assembled spherical house may sound like a simple idea, but the founders of the Ekinoid Project are extraordinarily ambitious. It's thought that the global population could reach 9 billion by 2050, and to house some of those 2 billion extra people, the Ekinoid Project would see pop-up off-grid towns of its spheroid pods accommodate 10,000 people at a time in some of Earth's least hospitable places.
Spherical houses might sound like a gimmick, and an ineffective use of space, but the designers think that a sphere provides great structural strength while markedly reducing the amount of raw materials required for each sphere.
It's thought that Ekinoids would be made from either steel or glued laminated timber, which would be insulated or clad according to your inhospitable environment of choice. The deserts of Australia, Siberia, Mongolia and Africa are ripe for Ekinoid towns, according to the project website. Flood plains, too, become viable with the addition of an Ekinoid town, the website claims.
As is often the case, the off-grid rationale reads like a sustainable technology shopping list. The project website cites wind and solar power for energy needs, rainwater harvesting and gray water treatment for water, built-in sewage treatment and composting for disposing of the unspeakable, and hydroponics for food. Alas, no amount of rainwater harvesting equipment will actually make it rain: something to consider, perhaps, before spending your mortgage on Ekinoid 8,442, Sahara Desert.
It's claimed that a single Ekinoid can be built in a week by a team of four, including a skilled organizer. Having built one sphere, it's argued that those workers become skilled, and are able to supervise the construction of other spheres. In this way, the residents of an Ekinoid town would build their own houses (with a crane or two to unload and move the prefabricated kits as they're delivered).
The Ekinoid Project is currently seeking collaborators in academia: students get a research subject, the Ekinoid Project gets some feasibility guidance in return. The intention is for Ekinoids to be as affordable as possible, and it's hoped that all the necessary materials could be prefabricated for a cost of £50,000 (US$77,000).
The idea is still very much in the formative stages, but what information there is can be found at the project's website. It'll be interesting to see if this one goes any further.
Source: Ekinoid Project, via Boing Boing
The biggest problem building in the US is meeting regulations, some of which are pointless. This would not be a problem in a developing country.
Someone wants to build a sphere house plain and simple.
Of course if it was a cube, it would just be a house on stilts.
Also, building the whole thing out of copper in 2013 would be prohibitively expensive.
It would be great scenery for a video game or an RPG, though.
http://www.rocioromero.com/LVsalesProcess.html (USA)
http-_www.i-domehouse.com (Japan)
The point behind the Sphere apparently is strength and reduced parts. The unstated additional purpose is that it can be put on stilts with ease so it can be used in places that occasionally to periodically flood. The pictures all show a metal clad house but the article states that it can be built with laminated woods as well so in a Desert you would use a less absorptive cladding.
Personally I agree it is ridiculously expensive for its intended audience. $77K is more than some people make in a lifetime in “off grid” locations especially near deserts, flood plains, tropical jungles, etc. I think they'll be making these and no one will buy it. More affluent people who could afford one of these with a reasonable mortgage would live where a simpler house could be used. To expect affluent people to move to "Off Grid" locations is a bit rediculous as they would be moving away from work, medical care, etc. The Broad Group style sky scrappers built like an archology with work, food, and climate control incorporated would be a better bet for providing housing for the masses at affordable rates with proximity to work that could pay for the housing.