3D printers are everywhere and they have been used to construct everything. Recently a Chinese company WinSun has successfully 3D printed a five-story apartment building and a 110 square meters villa from special print material. China's newest mansion is not only made from recycled materials, but the sprawling 110 square meters home was made with 3D printing. The luxury mansion was 3D printed in layers, using recycled stone and construction waste. In order to print a mansion, WinSun had to construct a larger-than-life 3D printer. The mansion printer stands 6.6 meters high, 10 meters wide and 40 meters long. Combining recycled materials and quick-dry cement, the giant printer squeezes out layer upon layer of pasty materials in strong diagonal shapes, which then harden. The pieces are reinforced with steel, and then filled with insulation like any other wall when building a house. In addition to the mansion, WinSun has also 3D printed a five-story apartment building and 10 affordable homes from recycled materials. WinSun's 3D-printed five-story apartment building took just one day to print, and then five additional days to assemble, with low construction waste and minimal laborers needed. The mansion, which was 3D printed inside and out, also saved on construction and labor. In the future, WinSun plans to use the efficient and low-construction waste process to build bridges and soaring skyscrapers. The company has already proven its stake in the 3D-printed architecture market, printing 10 homes at US$ 5,000 a piece in March of last year. Last year the Dutch company DUS Architects developed 3D-printid house using bioplastic.

Architecture practice RMJM's Shenzhen office just won a design competition for a new observation tower in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. Inspired by Doumen district's traditional water culture, the architects designed the skyscraper in the image of a jumping fish by covering the twisting structure in a scaly facade. The iconic tower will serve as a major city landmark and will be prominently located at the confluence of two major rivers in the center of the city's new promenade development. Measuring nearly 100 meters in height, the Zhuhai Observation Tower will be clad in 1,400 perforated aluminum panels that will give the building its fish-like look and protect the tower from the sun. Composed of twelve two-dimensional curves, the skyscraper's likeness to a jumping fish symbolizes the prosperity and rapid transformation of Zhuhai. Since the tower will be integrated in an urban promenade, RMJM minimized the building's footprint in order to make room for pedestrian-oriented landscape elements and recreational activities. Cafes and restaurants will also be located on the first floor of the tower to help spur activity in the plaza square. The mixed-use tower is split into three main activity zones: the ground podium with retail and restaurants, the leisure activity zone in the middle, and an observation deck on the top floor that will offer 360-degree views.

China will invest US$ 42 billion, to revive a long-stalled plan to build the world's longest undersea tunnel across the Bohai Strait linking the country's eastern and northeastern regions. Deep beneath the Bohai Sea, Chinese engineers may soon begin boring the longest submarine tunnel on the planet. At an estimated 123 kilometers long, it would surpass the combined length of world's two longest underwater tunnels-Japan's Seikan Tunnel and the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France. The tunnel will run from the port city of Dalian in northeastern Liaoning province to Yantai city in eastern Shandong. Today the drive between Dalian and Yantai takes around seven to eight hours. The Bohai Tunnel would shorten that to an hour. China announced plans in 1994 to build the tunnel, at a cost of US$ 10 billion, and set to be completed before 2010. But more than 20 years on, the project remains stuck in the planning stage without elaborating. Currently world's longest undersea tunnel is in Japan. The 54 kilometer Seikan tunnel links Honshu and Hokkaido islands and started operating in 1988 after more than two decades of construction. The Channel tunnel between England and France is about 51 kilometer long.