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LEGO-Like Architecture: $5,000 Homes from Recycled Plastic Blocks

18 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

block house

A Columbian company is tackling plastic waste issues and affordable housing with a single ingenious solution: interlocking LEGO-like bricks that can be used to build houses for a few thousand dollars per structure. Walls are formed using a slim slotted brick then framed using a thicker module used for beams and columns, locking the smaller units into place and providing rigid vertical and lateral support.

durable plastic lego blocks

Conceptos Plásticos is addressing their technology to rising populations of urban poor, families with the time but not financial means or materials to construct their own dwellings. The company works with locals to source plastic and create all kinds of spaces, including emergency shelters, community and educational buildings.

modular stacked block houses

The upcycled plastic blocks are easy to use and require no construction experience. They are durable, fire- and earthquake-resistant and much cheaper than other available materials. The company estimates the lifespan of the blocks at 500 years.

plastic block homes

“We hope to create a movement where more and more people get involved,” say the company founders. “We want to develop new products that make better use of the thousands and thousands of tons of plastic that is discarded.”

“There will soon be more plastic in the sea than fish, so we really need to do something big.” Recent projects using this novel material include a hostel for displaced victims of violence in the Columbian countryside.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Road Blocks: LEGO-Like Modular Roads & Paths Snap Into Place

21 Jul

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

road blocks lego 1

New roads could be quickly and easily slotted into place, piece by piece, with a new Lego-like modular plastic system that makes the building process feel more like playtime. Prototypes of the PlasticRoad concept will soon be tested in a collaboration with the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, potentially replacing asphalt and tar with a strong, corrosion-resistant recycled aggregate made of plastic waste removed from the oceans.

road blocks lego 2

According to manufacturer VolkerWessels, these modular components can withstand temperatures between -40 and 176 degrees Fahrenheit and other harsh weather conditions, and are ideal for roads built upon structurally unsound ground like sand. It’s unclear whether they would shift around on surfaces like that over time, however, or how cars would handle on their surfaces when it’s rainy, snowy or icy.

road blocks lego 3

They’re hollow, so cables and utility pipelines can be installed under the surface, protected from the elements and easy to maintain. Quick installation means far briefer periods of disrupted traffic during construction, and the prefabricated panels can simply be transported to the sight and lowered into place. If they pass the tests, the PlasticRoad project could see its first real-life installation in Rotterdam within three years.

smart highways

The concept is reminiscent of other asphalt alternatives that have been proposed over the years, like ‘smart highways’ covered with dynamic paint providing useful information to drivers (pictured above) and heated, LED-light-embedded solar roadways. The latter concept has been dismissed by many critics as unrealistic, considering the vast expense involved in manufacturing and maintaining them and the likelihood that they would draw power from the grid anytime it’s not sunny.