The world's first 3-D printed hotel, called El Cosmico, is officially under construction in Texas, and it's not like anything you've ever seen before.
Just north of the city of Marfa in the Lone Star State's far western desert region, the most noticeable piece of equipment at the site is a massive 3-D printer. Nearly 47 feet wide, the Vulcan printer deposits layers of sand-colored concrete to form fantastically-shaped structures that are unlike any Marriott you've ever stayed in before.
Created by the 3D printing and robotics company ICON, the Vulcan allows El Cosmico's architects to build fluid shapes with ample curves and domes, with fewer constraints than more traditional construction methods.
The hotel is projected to cost $200 to $400 per night, and guests who really love it can pony up for their own 3D printed dwelling on the same site — starting at a somewhat steeper $2.29 million.
El Cosmico isn't ICON's only project. The company is also hard at work constructing 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas. And the company may eventually go extra-terrestrial, too — in 2022, NASA awarded ICON a $57 million contract to research ways to erect 3-D printed structures on the surface of the moon.
