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12.16.2016 | DIGS.NET 115 and watched The Jetsons and they could just get in a car and whip around? It could have been a drone. Drones now are being made with seats that can carry up to 200 pounds. So, we could have drone transportation for people and not just goods. In addition, Uber just announced its version of a flying car that is more like a drone than a car. The introduction of this technology into the mass market is going to take away garages and driveways, and maybe in my future home, I will just need to have a drone pad for transportation and deliveries. What would a home with all of these technologies in place look like? In the world I live in, I have a furnace room that heats my house and has an air-conditioning unit for central air. It's connected to my electricity supply. So, I have an electrical line that supplies electricity to my house, a pipe to provide natural gas to burn and to create the heat, and a pipe to put in fresh water. All of the waste leaves the house in terms of drains. (from top) Global architecture rm Gensler designed this 3D building situated on the Emirates Towers premises in Dubai; all of the objects inside of the building were 3D-built as well, with the exception of electric wiring and glass. In the future home, you're going to have a carbon supply line that will provide the basic element of all things we have and enjoy on earth…3D printing takes carbon and prints it into whatever shape or object you want. I could envision a 3D printer room that becomes part of the house similar to what the furnace room is today; you wouldn't buy a house without one. It would have an Ethernet connection to download a schematic of an object, like a plate or fork. When you want it, your account is debited a license fee of maybe $2 to print the object. You'll pay the designer, the printer will pop to life, you'll hear a '[b]ing' and you'll have a plate ready to use for dinner. In the same house, you could print 12 plates for a nice dinner. Or, you're online at Target or Costco, and instead of going to get an object you've ordered, an autonomous car just shows up so you can go get it or a drone delivers it. A drone delivery might be $10 and an autonomous car $5. With the drone option, within an hour a drone lands on your drone pad and releases the package that you just purchased with the objects for your dinner, including fresh vegetables. Then you have your dinner and people are sitting in your dining room and someone remarks on how beautiful and clean your home is. You could say, 'It's courtesy of my nanoparticle paint that allows the room to change moods and color and is always clean.' Then a guest might drop and break a plate. You pick it up, and instead of putting it in the garbage, you can put it in the 3D disposal can and it puts carbon back into your carbon supply line so you can print another plate later. You also could invite people to sit in your living room, which has 3D-printed couches, or on the patio with a geometric structure that has been 3D printed courtesy of a new company that builds 3D objects that can't be built by hand because of the geometries. That's the future of the home or the abode you would be living in. That future is in about 20 to 25 years; it's totally real today and coming. Do you think Los Angeles will see these technologies in the very near future? L.A. already has autonomous cars. Last November, Mayor Garcetti was driven from City Hall to the L.A. Convention Center in an autonomous Volvo as part of the L.A. Auto Show. This year, the L.A. Auto Show will present Local Motors, a company out of Phoenix that did a 3D-printed, autonomous bus named Olli in partnership with IBM that is already up and running in Washington, D.C. You can get on the bus and it will say, 'Welcome aboard Olli. Where are you going today?' And then you use regular, natural language, like, 'I want to go to the Washington Monument,' and Olli will take you there. Four years ago, L.A. Auto Show head Lisa Kaz recognized the transformation that was happening in the transportation industry and knew the auto show industry needed to change. So, she introduced, in conjunction with the L.A. Auto Show, a Connected Car Expo to showcase the best in technology, including the autonomous car. L.A. is now the epicenter of all things transportation and connectivity and the movement of goods and services. On top of that, you have the mayor who is committed to making the city of L.A. and greater L.A. County an epicenter of things related to transportation. A R C H I T E C T | D E S I G N | B U I L D