El Cosmico and ICON Announce Groundbreaking of World's First 3D-printed Hotel and Development in Marfa, Texas

AUSTIN, TX, Sept 12, 2024 – Today, hospitality visionary Liz Lambert and ICON, the leader of advanced construction technologies pioneering large-scale 3D printing, announced that construction is underway for the first 3D-printed hotel and residences in Marfa, TX. Designed by the world-renowned BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, the relocation and expansion of El Cosmico to a 60+ acre property will showcase entirely new architectural approaches made possible by large-scale 3D-printing including domes, arches, vaults and parabolic forms. The innovative development will feature El Cosmico guest accommodations, new hospitality programming, including a pool, bathhouse and restaurant, as well as private residences. El Cosmico will continue to celebrate the convergence of creative culture and the natural desert environment of the Far West Texas landscape.

“I am so happy about breaking ground at the new El Cosmico site. It’s the realization of a longtime dream of mine. It’s also very meaningful to me in that we will be able to do more of what we’ve done in the community of Marfa over the past 12 years - create economic opportunity, add high quality jobs, and contribute to the cultural fabric of Marfa. I’ve been coming to Marfa since I was a kid spending summers at my family's ranch, and I’m proud and honored to be a part of this community. Marfa is a magical place,” said Liz Lambert, Creator of El Cosmico.

The design for the expansion and re-imagination of the El Cosmico hotel and housing is informed by this unique connection between the high desert landscape and cosmic organizations. The new hotel and homes feature organic curves and domes, a primordial architectural language that can only be achieved by 3D-printing. ICON’s technology excels at creating soft shapes and curved surfaces, making it possible to bring this design vision to life. The project provides a natural continuation of unique experiences, building on El Cosmico’s legacy at the intersection of art, nature and hospitality in Marfa, TX.

"Our design for the new El Cosmico is a conversation between El Cosmico’s past and future. By testing the geometric boundaries of ICON’s 3D-printed construction, we have imagined fluid, curvilinear structures that enjoy the freedom of form in the empty desert. By using the sand, soils, and colors of the terroir as our print medium, the circular forms seem to emerge from the very land on which they stand. We are honored to join Liz Lambert in reimagining desert luxury as something distilled to its purest form: raw, honest, and in harmony with the surrounding environment." said Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.

Connected to the hotel, the collection of the BIG-designed three and four bedroom “Sunday Homes” available for sale feature expansive views of the Davis Mountains and range from 2,000 sq. ft to 2,500 sq. ft on 1+ acre lots. Pricing on the Sunday Homes start at $2.29M and are exclusively listed with Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. The first model home is expected to be completed by the end of this year with additional units to follow. More information on home sales can be found at elcosmicohomes.com.

“Part of the reason we’ve worked so hard at ICON to create these technologies is to give high-vision people like Liz and Bjarke the ability to materialize their dreams in the real world,” said Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO, ICON. “West Texas is one of the most meaningful places on Earth to me and my family. To contribute in such a positive way to Marfa hits on a deeply personal level. The breadth of the project, from hospitality and elevated housing to affordable housing, is astounding. This will be the most ambitious architecture that we have yet undertaken.”

Another facet of the project will be to build additional 3D-printed affordable housing units in Marfa to serve the evolving needs of the town where the existing El Cosmico now sits. The designs for these homes will be selected from ICON’s Initiative 99 global architecture competition where more that 60 countries were represented in the contest submissions.

The original El Cosmico, currently a 21-acre unique campground hotel in Marfa, TX, will remain open into 2025. The new development is expected to be completed in 2026. For more information visit elcosmicohomes.com.

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About ICON

ICON is a construction technology company developing robotic and AI systems to lower the cost and increase the speed and quality of construction to tackle the global housing crisis and prepare to build on other worlds. As a pioneer of large-scale 3D printing, ICON continually sets new standards for delivering resilient, dignified housing and recently unveiled a radical new robotic printer that enables multi-story construction, a new low-carbon building material, a digital catalog for residential architecture, and an AI architect for home design and construction. Using proprietary 3D printing robotics, software and advanced materials, ICON is shifting the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. For more information visit www.iconbuild.com or follow on X™, Instagram®, Facebook®, YouTube®, LinkedIn, or Threads® (@ICON3DTech).

About El Cosmico

El Cosmico is a 21-acre nomadic hotel and campground in Marfa, Texas. In keeping with the belief that life should be a balance of adventure and do-nothingness, it offers shelter, occasional entertainment, opportunity for learning/doing/making, and access to the majesty of the high plains desert. Accommodations at El Cosmico include a variety of nomadic structures from trailer to tepees to safari tents as well as tent campsites. The property also offers several communal spaces for guests from a hammock grove to a fireside HQ living room and provision company. El Cosmico is also home to the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love - an intimate multi-day, multimedia festival of sensory delights, held underneath the vast Chihuahuan Desert sky.

About BIG

BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group is a Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona, Shenzhen, Zurich, Los Angeles, and Oslo-based group of architects, designers, urbanists, landscape professionals, interior and product designers, researchers, and inventors. Led by Bjarke Ingels, the studio is currently involved in projects throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. BIG’s architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes. BIG believes that by hitting the fertile overlap between pragmatic and utopia, architects can find the freedom to change the surface of our planet, to better fit contemporary life forms.