Competition layout for the Life Cycle Building Challenge 2. This is Archimorphs second year entering in the competition.
OPEN is a project based off the idea that solving the problems of the many, by the many, through open source, peer-to-peer cooperation will solve our problems. Sustainable housing solutions will come from the help and cooperation of the many, rather the select few. Not only does this project look at showing an open source system of building, but also at recycling and reuse of wastes put back into the chain of usable materials. Since the time of the industrial revolution we have been focused on mass production of uniform parts, now in the information age we search for architecture and building systems that also allows for mass customization. Through the use of cheap computers, available to anyone in the world, and peer-to-peer online freeware, users can collaborate on solving housing issues. Where rectilinear and uniform building models were part of the Industrial Age, this concept seeks to find the architecture of the Information Age, where not only mass production is important, but coupled together with mass customization. Where economy once determined the modular, now data and information from the context and user can directly become architecture via new digital manufacturing technologies.
The project uses self-replicating 3d printers to machine modular parts from a liquid polymer. The materials come from recycled plastics, and the input comes from an online peer-to-peer networking system aimed at the open source sharing of data and building modular data. The premise of the system is to create an entirely independent and open source building system while simultaneously recycling human trash. By collecting plastics, inhabitants can build their home through recycling, which will turn a waste into a sought after commodity for the built environment. Using 3d Printed modules, from recycled plastics, this house embodies open source system. From the building processes to the building systems, the design for the home attempts to create a dwelling for everyone in the world, free of cost.
The process begins by the inhabitant recycling and collecting necessary plastics. They are able to go to the recycling center and receive a 3d printer that will self-replicate and print modules based off of input code from the software. By taking collected plastics to the recycler, they will in exchange be given an equal amount of liquid polymer, for use in their printer. A user can take their 3d printer and print more 3d printers. After this they log onto a free peer-to-peer network, that shares files and home designs for use with the 3d printer software, which is also a freeware program. After the user downloads the data for the house that they wish, the 3d printers will begin to print modules, from the recycled plastic, on queue. After a module is printed the user can then put them into place to begin to building their new structure. After a structure is seen as inadequate, the owner needs only to return the plastic modules to the factory, to be refunded with new liquid polymers to create new pieces. Existing pieces can also be traded and swapped by others in the communities.
Users can create or share forms that they find on the internet, and form of structure is only limited to their design. This is only our interpretation of the project, and the point of the project is to further this process by the collective knowledge of the whole. For our project we decided to look at forms of minimal surfaces to attempt to create a structure with the least amount of material as possible. A system of “caltrops” that support a base of printed triangular modules. The caltrops use a system of nesting that creates a solid base out of minimal materials. The main structure of the house is composed of a system of struts and nodes.
archimorph 
hi. im an architecture student and i would like to know how to use Rhino to model this project.. thank you very much.
the interior surface is actually a minimal surface mathematical function, called an enneper surface. the exterior membrane was created using panelling tools, and the base structure was done by using an aggregation script, which aggregates the modules you see below.