Ok first off, this may be baked, but I could not find it on google or halfbakery, so here goes. This idea came to me this weekend when staying at a friends house made from concrete blocks. As a kid I made small lego houses and still like to play with Lego's the now and again. My idea is as follows. Make lego type blocks the size of concrete blocks. Use recycled plastic's along with a fire retardent polimer. This plastic ought to also be resistant to UV and Heat from direct sunlight. I'm thinking the stuff they make Saturn cars out of. Cost of material is important here, since this will be used for low cost housing. The inside of the 'Lego' blocks will be hollow and either filled with fire resistant foam or be sealed and have a strong vacume inside for thermal transfer resistance. The rest is simple. For a tempory shelter just snap the blocks togeather and build the shelter. A tarp or inflatable roof could be used. For a permanent house, the bottom layer would be ankored to threaded rebar that is in the concrete footings. The rest of the blocks would be glued togeather as to make as strong of structure as possable. A composit roof could then be snaped and glued to the top of the 'Lego' house. This type of snap togeather structure could be used to make almost any size and type of house, and due to the light weight and ease of instalation, almost anyone could build their own house.
-- dlapham, Jul 19 2004

(?) evildave's, Very similar. http://www.halfbake...Big_20Lego_20Blocks
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

bookworm's http://www.halfbake...ea/Lego_20furniture
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) Fell in love with a girl. http://www.director...om/gondry/Dxlv.html
it wasn't rendered. Long job. [wagster, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

(?) Lego advertising stunt (2005) http://www.epica-aw...truction%20Site.jpg
Had resulted in "massive media coverage" that, I guess, completely missed us. [jutta, Sep 14 2006]

This looks like someone's Lego Set http://www.stumbleu...lex-singapore.html/
Imagine an earthquake... [blissmiss, Sep 05 2009]

(?) Lego House http://www.designbo...ize-lego-house.html
Lego House [goober, Sep 06 2009]

Baked!!! http://inhabitat.co...te-your-own-castle/
Well, now that they exist, maybe I'll buy one.. [dlapham, Apr 27 2010]

Now not only baked ... https://www.crisisconstruction.com/
... but baked with added disaster-recovery magic. [pertinax, Oct 31 2024]

Bit like an Igloo for hot countries! I don't think the 'house' part is going anywhere due to the security/loadbearing/wiring etc. issues. It could be of use in various temporary structures though - exhibition stands, stage sets etc. Probably much like Lego, you'd have to manufacture it and sell it and only then see what people wanted to make out of it. Bread for this. PS I have seen huge Lego bricks somewhere but only on their own as advertising, don't know if they connect.
-- wagster, Jul 19 2004


I missed the big lego blocks idea somehow. I will leave this on here since my idea is for both the shell and interior. This other idea was for this inside wall only. It was also for foam blocks. Mine are plastic, with possable foam inside. This being said I would not have posted this if I had seen the other idea, because I agree, it is verry simular.

As far as wireing goes, one thing that could be done is modular integrated wireing. The blocks would be pre-wired and would have terminals that would make contact when the blocks are snaped togeather. You would then have blocks pre-made with outlets in them which could be placed anywhere in the wall. The limits of this, is that it would be next to impossable to add wireing after the house was built.

Security and Loadbearing all depends on the streingth of the blocks. Since most houses built today have breakable glass windows in them I doubt that security would be much of an issue..
-- dlapham, Jul 19 2004


would you also create your own Lego furniture? That would be pretty cool.
-- PinkDrink, Jul 19 2004


//would you also create your own Lego furniture? That would be pretty cool.//

Sure, that would be cool.. When I'm at it I can make my living room look like the set of a white stripes video.
-- dlapham, Jul 19 2004


That'd be one pricey house, with some tricky things to pull off. Doubt it could be made liveable, but fun to think about.
-- RayfordSteele, Jul 19 2004


We (me and someone, I forget who...) were talking about that video. He assumed he stop-motion animated the lego, but he pointed out that these days it should not be too complex to render video into lego - like photoshop's 'watercolour' effect. Does anyone know if this can be done or has been?
-- wagster, Jul 21 2004


I think the idea has some merit but I would hate to have those bright colours -red, green, blue tho and do you have to have one of those round faces and "stick on" hair
-- tasman, Jul 21 2004


<sarcasm> Could some one please check because I think I have the word "Lego" branded to my arse 10,000 times thanks to your piece of junk home made furniture.</sarcasm>

I know why don't we make the lego out of really cheap really strong fire resistant rain resistant baked Clay blocks and instead of expensive glue why don't we make a concrete & sand aggregate which will dry to form a water tight seal between the Clay Blocks. And then....

But seriously they make brick walls in factories that can be sent to a site and constructed really quickly & efficiently. It has revolutionised the construction of all these cheap out of town campus & 4 storey motels like Travel Inn & Econolodges etc.
-- PainOCommonSense, Jul 22 2004


right now im making an ingection moulding system to make giant lego and then im going to ship it off to 3rd world countries for housing, there are going to be 3 coulours:red,white and black. for roofing it will be made out of plastic poles that lock onto the top bricks and then covered with a tarp. for insulation it will be sort of like plastic lunch wrap. the adcvantage of using plastic bricks is that they are lightwieght and they dont rust of rot or really deteriate.

all in all the idea is(unoffically) about 3/4 baked
-- sockless, Mar 11 2007


Sockless, If you read this please contact me. Click on my name for my email address. I would like to get one of your systems.

If someone know how to get into contact with Him / Her please let me know.
-- dlapham, Jun 21 2007


Your idea just aired on tonights episode of American Inventor.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 12 2007


http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/ news/article-1210206/ James-May-set- live-Lego-house.html
-- bobzaguy, Sep 06 2009


A company called Ecomat just made this a reality. Hmm, maybe I'll build one :)
-- dlapham, Apr 27 2010


Cool, a technical lego house with some unique transformative abilities. A wall of large rotating cogs as the roof opens like a flower.
-- wjt, Apr 27 2010


This has now gone to the next level; see link.

Come on, people; *we* should have thought of that.
-- pertinax, Oct 31 2024


The foundation, roof, floor, structure, and siding accounts for about 40% of the cost of a house. Most people also want plumbing, electricity, furniture, more comfortable, attractive and easier to clean walls and floor, etc.
-- Voice, Oct 31 2024


Well ... when the starting point is a pile of rubble, 40% of a new house is a great improvement on nothing.
-- pertinax, Nov 01 2024



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