Much—far too much—has been made on the future of 3D printing, with a lot of the commentary pointing to the technology’s mass-democratizing potential. (To say nothing of its “emancipatory” promise to fundamentally alter our lives and work—a notion that, I’m sure we all can agree, is a big joke.) For the time being at least, 3D printers are expensive objects that require a specialized education to use them. This education may become more widespread down the line, but right now, it’s highly concentrated in universities and “forward-thinking” private kindergartens and elementary schools that cost the same as universities. What if there were an alternative, less exclusive vehicle for delivering 3D printing to the public?

Enter the 3Doodler, the world’s first 3D printing pen. When in use, the pen spews hot strands of ABS plastic “ink” that immediately harden and stiffen and which can be arrayed to form upright micro-structures. Developed by WobbleWorks, purveyors of toy and robotic products, the 3Doodler makes it possible for you take your drawing off the page and into reality. And it couldn’t be easier to use—after all, what’s more intuitive than drawing? Continue.

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New York City’s Museum of Modern Art has an impressive mix of objects in its architecture and design collection—including a prototype of a wind-powered destroyer of land mines! Yep, you read that right. Last year, the institution acquired Mine Kafon, designed by Massoud Hassani, a native of Afghanistan. The mobile sphere, which miraculously sniffs out and sets off hidden land mines, will be on view this spring at MoMA, according to ArtInfo. In the meantime, why not support the production of this amazing, life-saving device? Hassani is currently raising money via Kickstarter, and with only nine days to go, he’s less than $20,000 away from his $161,000 goal. Click through to learn more!

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The community center in Cormiers, Haiti.

OK, so what you’re looking at is not another of our hobbit houses, nor is it the next tiny-homes craze (though, selfishly, we kind of wish it were). Even better: this is a community center in the rural village of Cormiers, Haiti, and it checks off so many humanitarian-design boxes—earthquake resilience, local materials, simple construction, community self-determination—all while looking like a very fine outcropping of Easter eggs.

Completed in 2010, the community center kicked off a collaboration between the residents of Cormiers and Konbit Shelter, a small group of U.S.-based artists, architects, engineers, and builders, including the street artist Swoon. Since then they’ve built a similarly domed house for a local woman, and now the group has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the construction of a second house for a woman and her three kids. Read more!

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Iwan Baan via highline.org

Architizer is hosting the world’s definitive architectural awards program, with 50+ categories and 200+ jurors. Alanna Okun, Assistant Editor at BuzzFeed Shift, will be covering relevant stories and news relating to the jury, the categories, and latest updates related to A+. See her previous post on Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp here. To learn more about the awards, visit architizerawards.com.

Robert Hammond, the co-founder and director of Friends of the High Line, has signed on to be a part of Architizer’s A+ Awards Jury!

You know the High Line. If you’ve visited New York in the last three years, chances are you’ve strolled the nineteen or so blocks, from Gansevoort Street all the way up to 30th, that the elevated park covers. It’s a manageable but substantial distance, and while you are on it you somehow feel both part of the city and privy to this secret overarching sense of it.

The park, which runs along part of the west side of Manhattan, looks like a garden from the future. It’s all tall, spiky grasses and benches that appear to rise organically from the boardwalk where tourists and locals stroll. It’s good for first dates and for showing your parents around the city, to keep them from worrying that you’re not eating well all the way out there in Brooklyn. As Hammond explained in his June 2011 TED talk, ”What really makes the High Line special is the people…I realized right after we opened that there were all these people holding hands on the High Line.” He added: “I think that’s the power that public spaces can have.”Aww.

Continue.

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Costa Rica’s motto may be “pura vida” (pure life), but the country has a big trash problem. More than 60% of the 2400 tons of garbage produced daily in this tourism hot spot ends up in unregulated, open junkyards; less than 10% is recycled. Even worse, 250 tons are dumped into Costa Rica’s beautiful rivers and tropical forests every day. That’s why a group of architecture students from New York Institute of Technology has begun building a recycling and education center in the Costa Rican town of Nosara. Now, the students, led by NYIT professor Tobias Holler, of HOLLER Architecture, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough funds to complete the center, and document the process. Read more!

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Urban cycling is cheap, healthy, and awesome for the environment. But it’s also really dangerous–particularly when a driver fails to see you approaching and cuts you off as he makes a right-hand turn. Indeed, according to the UK Department of Transport, 79% of cycling casualties have resulted from these kinds of oversights. If your bright orange vest or glow-in-the-dark gear just aren’t cutting it, the BLAZE bike light may do the trick. The attachment projects a symbol 13 feet to 20 feet ahead of bike, enhancing presence for oncoming traffic and lane mergers. Read more!

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Images: courtesy WHIM architects

WHIM Architects is looking to create a modern-day Robinson Crusoe with the fantastic Recycled Island. The plan, which is hoping to raise $70,000 in funding via Kickstarter, is to build a self-sustaining island that floats on top of repurposed plastic. This trash, which litters coastlines from Senegal and Mumbai all the way to Brazil, endangers wildlife and human health, but WHIM plans to transform the waste into building structures and compost that will allow a home to float along the waves of the ocean and sustain itself off the grid. It’s so awesome that we’ve included it in Architizer’s own Kickstarter page, which highlights some of our favorite projects. Read more and watch a video!

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Alfred Zollinger, a principal at Matter Architecture Practice and director of Parson’s Design Workshop, is currently using Kickstarter to raise money for a “Peace and Quiet” booth in Times Square.

By David Hill

How do you raise money for a civic design project these days? You can go the traditional route—apply for a grant, make a pitch to city officials, befriend a wealthy patron—or, you can try your hand at crowdfunding. A growing number of architects are doing just that, turning to Kickstarter (see our curated profile here), the popular crowdfunding website for creative types, to generate both cash and buzz. It’s an approach that makes a lot of sense in today’s limping economy. Read more.

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What’s the one thing everyone misses most from childhood? Nap time, of course! We all could use a respite from work, studying, or, in a city like New York, from other people. Now, thanks to the OSTRICH pillow, a power nap is always at hand. The Ostrich’s Kickstarter campaign, which was launched a month ago, ended today, and needless to say, the project was successfully funded…two and half times over. Continue.

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EVERYBODY+POOL

Architizer is hosting the world’s definitive architectural awards program, with 50+ categories and 200+ jurors. As part of an ongoing series, we’re spotlighting projects that fit the “Plus” categories, which tap into topical and culturally relevant themes. Today, in an effort to show you examples of good candidates for the Plus awards, we present 10 “Architecture + Self-Initiated Projects.” To see a full list of categories and learn more about the awards, visit architizerawards.com.

Given the dour economic climate in recent years, work in the already precarious field of architecture has dropped precipitously, as clients grow more conservative (and fewer in number) and project budgets shrink. Architects have had to adapt to the situation, assuming the driver’s seat typically filled by clients to advance innovative and self-initiated projects. To get the word out, these designers have integrated crowdsourcing and crowdfunding strategies into their work processes. Sites like Kickstarter have proved incredibly effective in realizing designers’ abstract ideas and proposals, either through exhibitions and full-scale installations to working prototypes and components.

The +Pool and the Lowline are among the most successful of these campaigns, and they’re indicative of the way these projects have contributed to and help shaped the development of contemporary architectural production. Now, fanciful urban proposals or wacky architectural schemes don’t necessarily have to waste away on computer screens, but can, in some form or another, be brought to life and action. The Architecture + Self-Initiated Award will honor the best of these projects. Click through for more examples.

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