Latest news with #Cubist
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why a 'garbage rally' powered by junk stocks could explain quant hedge funds' no good, very bad summer
Quant hedge funds have been losing money since the start of June. The causes are unclear, though execs, traders, and banks have pointed to a few factors. Wednesday was another rough day, as the average quant lost 0.8%, according to Goldman Sachs. As the fundamental investing world marvels at another potential bubble made up of meme stocks and retail traders, quant hedge funds are trying to solve a much more complex problem. The smartest people at the smart money firms have been on a weekslong losing streak starting at the beginning of June, with firms like Qube, Two Sigma, and Point72's Cubist suffering losses over that time. Wednesday was another rough day of trading for many funds as the average quant lost 0.8%, according to Goldman Sachs. The bank's prime brokerage unit said July was on track to be the worst month in five years and pointed to similar factors as it did earlier in the week: A momentum sell-off, crowded trades, and high volatility in certain stocks. Business Insider previously reported that quant firms have been trying to pinpoint the cause of the steady-drip losses that have eroded a hot start to the year in systematic trading. Goldman isn't the only firm that's begun to wrap its head around what's happening. Computer-run managers have come up with theses, found parallels to past markets, and are even planning for a quick rebound. A belief taking hold is that broader market calamity is unlikely to spread, as the sources of pain aren't fundamental market weakness or a lurking economic maelstrom, but rather the opposite: a surprisingly strong economy that has flooded the markets — and questionable stocks — with liquidity that happened to catch quants wrong-footed. Dark Forest Technologies founder Jacob Kline wrote in a Friday note to investors that the current scenario is "not at all like 2007," when forced deleveraging inflicted rapid losses across the systematic space. Kline, who was previously on the investment committee at Bridgewater, said this summer's swoon is a byproduct of "what we politely call a 'garbage rally.'" He theorizes that the resurgence in heavily shorted junk stocks in recent weeks has forced some smaller quant firms to sell their positions, adding to the pain for everyone still holding on. "It's a bad month but not a crisis; the drivers are atypical but not surprising," the note reads. It's not Sydney Sweeney and the memestock crowd Don't give too much credit to Sydney Sweeney and the memestock crowd. They were late to the ball game. One executive at a multimanager fund involved in quant strategies said some large funds started noticing losses before June. Weeks before Kohl's and American Eagle became retail darlings, some micro-cap stocks and thinly traded Chinese names "had been running for three weeks doing silly things." "There's no underlying malady. No COVID. No great financial crisis," the multimanager exec said. He ascribes blame largely to a broader surge in market liquidity and risk appetite, a result of positive macroeconomic developments that began burbling months ago. A "peculiar set of circumstances" preceded the quant bleeding, according to Kline. The broader stock market rally heading into June was largely driven by retail and systematic trend-following. Hedge funds had relatively low net exposure — but they had been hedging the quality stocks by shorting weak ones, which was profitable. The market reached all-time highs in June, and with prices so rich, hedge funds stopped adding to those high-quality stocks but also stopped betting against the weak ones. Removing their short positions boosted "garbage" stocks, which attracted the attention of retail traders and meme stock enthusiasts, driving those positions up further. Because quants, in simplistic terms, use their mathematical firepower to "sort good from bad," as Kline put it, this rally in low-quality companies set many of them up for pain. "Quants are generally going to be on the other side of that kind of arbitrary move," Kline said. Strategies that jump on short-term trends "may be exacerbating" the surge, said Antoine Haddad, founder of $1 billion Bainbridge Partners, a multistrategy hedge fund with quant portfolio managers. This includes "AI-driven algos too," he said. The big-picture driver of this frenzied trading is the strong macroeconomic backdrop — low inflation, muted tariff impact, lack of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve — which has attracted more money into the market. During Covid and the original memestock craze four years ago, the market was awash in liquidity, and money gravitated to odd places, including seemingly worthless stocks — not to mention NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and SPACs. What's happening in 2025 is an echo, similar but far less intense. Another wrinkle and outgrowth of the increasing liquidity and risk appetite is the thaw in equity capital markets, which "have lit up like a Christmas tree," the multimanager exec said. While capital raising was dead much of this year, companies in June began raising money again through initial public offerings, follow-on raises, and convertible bonds, all of which "accelerated towards the end of the quarter, as global issuers and investors gained confidence amid a market rebound," according to Morgan Stanley's mid-July earnings call. This allows companies, "garbage" or otherwise, to improve their prospects by injecting their coffers at attractive valuations, potentially boosting their stock price as well. While many hedge funds closely monitor such activity, it's not traditionally the bailiwick of quants. "Quants don't sit in that business and they don't see that flow," the multimanager exec said. All eyes on the industry's largest quant funds Understanding the source of the quant carnage is one question. Identifying when the pain will abate is equally important. One trader who works at one of the industry's largest quant funds told BI that the actions of the biggest firms will be the most significant factor over the next week. If these funds are forced to sell, then there could be serious pain that could impact everyone from Fidelity mutual funds to Robinhood retail traders. "Some small players don't have a choice but to capitulate," the multimanager exec said, adding that the larger firms know that if a major peer cuts its exposure, "then it becomes a bigger contagion and gets out of hand." This hasn't happened yet, and some are betting that the bigger players will just sit tight. The size of the funds, the pain tolerance of their executives, and the trust they have in their models is where the quant heavyweights have the ability to shine. They either have investor capital locked up for years or a giant horde of internal money — meaning they can withstand losses for longer, especially if they anticipate a bounceback. Dark Forest compared the situation to the end of 2023, when some smaller quants were stung by the Federal Reserve's signalling that lower rates may be coming. This increase of liquidity in the stock market caused a similar surge in stocks that quants were either short or not invested in. Those who "pulled back missed out badly," while funds that held firm saw substantial gains in the following months. "Like 2023, the losses are big enough to where they are inducing the weaker hands to delever, which is exacerbating the losses this week," the note reads. But this time around, the "strong hands" will let their models continue because "the ARKKs of the world are unlikely to keep outperforming the market by 10% a month," Kline said, referring to the innovation-focused ETF managed by Ark Investment Management. "We think strong hands should be levering up into this headwind," the note concluded. Another executive of a small quant fund said they planned to ride out the "froth in sexy sectors." "We are not going to suddenly switch our models over this," he said. "It had been a great year before the summer. Those conditions can come back." The multimanager exec believes the worst is over. It can take time for markets to recalibrate the junk stocks, but "now that everyone is writing about it, we're probably done." Read the original article on Business Insider
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Red Sox could use upgrade at first base, but Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez have been complementing each other
'They're doing an outstanding job,' said manager Alex Cora. 'You put them both in the blender, it's a good first baseman.' Toro — evidently opposed to a Cubist dissolution of the self — offered a less violent portrait. Advertisement 'We complete each other,' Toro said of his first base partnership with Gonzalez. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up What are the dimensions of completeness? Since the Triston Casas injury, Sox first basemen have offered stability, with a combined .265/.307/.419 line overall — respectable, middle-of-the-pack production. " However, the production has been skewed. Most of the impact has come courtesy of Gonzalez, whose self-described 'extremely locked in' status has been both the stuff of T-shirts among his teammates and tremendous contributions. Sox first basemen have posted a .333/.354/.533 against lefties since the Casas injury. Against righties during the same stretch, Sox first basemen were hitting .236/.287/.371 — good for a .658 OPS that ranks 23rd among big league first basemen in that time. Those numbers have been trending steadily down. After the team's first basemen posted a .788 OPS against righties in the first four weeks after Casas suffered his injury, the team's production has cratered to a .204/.263/.301 mark since the beginning of June. Advertisement Clearly, there's room for improvement. But will there be available players who represent upgrades? It looks like a late-forming market — something that prompted the Phillies to move aggressively to sign free-agent righthander David Robertson after a workout for interested teams (including the Red Sox, who were represented by Breslow and assistant GM Eddie Romero) on Sunday. Teams are still deciding whether to buy or sell, and so the Phillies pushed forward with a bird in hand. 'A lot of things change daily at this time,' said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. 'Some clubs, when we talked to them last week, they had one mind-set, and then after a weekend — good or bad — they had another mind-set. That may change a couple more times between now and the 31st. Ten days until the trading deadline, that's a long time.' For the Sox, those 10 days could define whether the Diamondbacks elect to keep or trade free-agent-to-be Josh Naylor, a 2023 All-Star who entered Monday hitting .292/.361/.452 with 11 homers. Because he is a pure rental (albeit one who could receive a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks — thus entitling Arizona to draft-pick compensation if he departs as a free agent), Naylor is seen as the most prominent first baseman on the market. Advertisement Ryan O'Hearn of the Orioles also bears watching, with Baltimore resigned to dealing pending free agents. O'Hearn, who replaced Devers as the designated hitter on the AL All-Star team, is hitting .282/.378/.458. There have been rumblings that the Rays could consider dealing Yandy Díaz (.294/.352/.468 with 15 homers), and it's endlessly fascinating to imagine a scenario in which Tampa Bay packages Díaz (who is signed through 2026) and a starting pitcher such as Taj Bradley or Shane Baz for a Sox outfielder such as Wilyer Abreu. But such a scenario is seen by multiple major league sources as extremely unlikely, with a deal of such magnitude seen as a near-impossibility for division rivals who are competing for a postseason berth. The A's merit watching both because they're one of the few teams without realistic hopes of contending this season and because they have a surplus of first baseman/left field/DH bats in 22-year-old rookie masher Nick Kurtz, long-term DH/corner outfielder Brent Rooker, and first baseman/corner outfielder Tyler Soderstrom. There's roughly zero chance the A's would deal Kurtz or Rooker, but Soderstrom — a 23-year-old who crushes righties (.270/.357/.504 with 17 homers) — is seen across the industry as a potential trade target. With four remaining years of team control after 2025, the A's are in no rush to move him. So, to circle back: Will the Sox upgrade at first between now and the deadline? It's still too early to say. Certainly, the Sox have learned never to be too comfortable at the position — but they feel better about the blend of Gonzalez and Toro than they've felt about many other combinations. 'We've had a lot of people at first base the last four years — a lot of them,' said Cora. 'From Kyle [Schwarber] playing first base, Franchy [Cordero] playing first base — we have tried a lot of stuff. [But] these two guys, in spring training they showed they can play the position, and throughout the season, they're getting better. … I think both of them have been great.' Advertisement Te players know better than to assume what the team will look like by July 31 — or what roles they might play on the other side of the deadline. 'I think we've been doing a good job with that platoon kind of role. Romy has been really great against lefties, and I've been able to handle righties. Whatever the team does, if they're trying to add on, I just want to stay here and hopefully be a part [of it] for the playoffs,' said Toro,' who was part of a surprising deadline deal between the Astros and Mariners in 2021. 'Hopefully I stay on the team. Whatever role they want me to be, I'll be happy to do what they ask.' Alex Speier can be reached at
Business Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Times
No bricklayers, only robots: Singapore's first 3D-printed house
[SINGAPORE] Most architects don't live inside their experiments. Lim Koon Park does. In the lush district of Bukit Timah, he's built a home that rewrites the rules of construction – layer by printed layer. QR3D, the first 3D-printed house in the country, is not just a technical first. It's a working, breathing home designed around light, air, and lived experience. Four levels. Seven bedrooms. A 6-metre-high concrete oculus at its heart. And no bricklayers in sight. For Lim, founder of the acclaimed architecture practice Park + Associates, QR3D is both a milestone and a meditation. 'We weren't interested in doing a technological demo,' he says, seated at his custom-made steel dining table. 'It had to be liveable. It had to feel like a real home.' The striated texture of concrete proudly reveals its 3D-printed origins. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Built on a 3,531-square-foot plot, the 6,130-square-foot residence is both elemental and expressive – a home where light and shadow fold into daily life, and every surface bears the quiet trace of its 3D-printed origins. The entire structure pivots around a dramatic cylindrical void – an oculus that rises from the dining room floor to a skylight above. This centrepiece – referred to in the family as 'the cone' – doesn't just dramatise the architecture. It also performs. Hidden within its striated 3D-printed walls is a passive ventilator typically found in factories, drawing hot air upward and out. 'The cone defines the way the house is configured,' Lim explains. 'Every room has a reminder of it. The space-making elements curve around it, responding to it. It's not decorative. It's spatial.' A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up The 6-metre tall 'cone' isn't just a skylight – it's a structural centrepiece around which the entire house radiates. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Because of the cone too, the rooms, corridors and stairwells don't flow in straight lines. They fracture and converge, tilt and realign, like the overlapping planes of a Cubist painting by Braque or Picasso. Space feels broken up and reassembled from multiple angles, never offering a single fixed perspective. Each child – Lim has four – has a room with its own personality: one with a loft, another with generous light, another with a secluded nook. The master bedroom sits behind a narrow window, modestly lit, because, as Lim says, 'we never opened the curtains anyway'. At the base of the cone, the dining area is celebrated as the heart of the home. 'We love food,' he smiles. 'And this was the space where everyone comes together.' Because of the cone, the corridors and stairwells seem to fragment and splinter like Cubist paintings. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM A house sculpted by code QR3D is 90 to 95 per cent 3D-printed – a remarkable feat given Singapore's conservative building landscape. Built as a semi-detached residence, the project partnered with local concrete printing specialist CES_InnovFab to split construction between on-site printing and off-site prefabrication. While some walls were layered outdoors under weather-controlled canopies, others were printed in a factory and trucked in. 'Certain inclines were a challenge,' Lim says. 'Concrete wants to slump. So we printed individual blocks – almost like bricks – and assembled them on site.' Other challenges bordered on the theatrical: limited nozzle access near party walls, power fluctuations interrupting the print flow, and humidity sabotaging consistency. In one case, a precast wall panel cracked during hoisting. 'We didn't anticipate the lifting forces,' he says. 'So we developed a hook system to distribute the load. You live and learn.' The textured wall surfaces add a subtle richness. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Lim is quick to note that while most of the vertical surfaces were printed, the structural slabs and columns remained conventional. The columns, for instance, were shaped using printed molds, then filled with rebar cages and cast concrete. 'We're not printing structure – yet,' he says. 'It's still reinforced concrete inside. But one day, maybe.' He is certainly thinking long-term: 'If I can make 3D-printing work with what I design, then it has a chance of going to the mainstream construction industry.' For an architect with more than two decades in practice, QR3D also marked a return to first principles. Lim didn't design a house to initially fit the printer. He sketched out the house by hand – unusual for him – and only later adapted it for printing: 'I didn't want the technology to lead. It should be a value-add – not a limitation.' The living room is tastefully furnished with statement pieces, including Le Corbusier armchairs. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Although this house took longer to complete than expected and didn't result in dramatic cost savings – at least not yet – Lim sees it as a pilot project for 3D-printed houses. 'After two or three more houses, it'll get faster. Once you amortize the machine cost and the team gains experience, the savings become real.' The biggest efficiencies come in the elimination of trades. 'You don't need to cut grooves for power points anymore,' he says. 'You just insert a foam block during printing and pop it out later.' No carpenters, no plasterers, no bricklayers. 'It's cleaner. It's faster. It's just the computer and a guy who programmes it.' Bedroom windows are deliberately made small to reduce heat gain. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Sustainable, sensible, striking Despite its technological ambition, QR3D isn't showy. There's no polished chrome or futuristic gimmickry. Instead, the house embraces a quiet material honesty. The striated concrete surfaces – each layer of the print visible like tree rings – are left unpainted. That commitment to honesty extends to sustainability. Bedroom windows are small to reduce heat gain. A heat pump water heater cools the upper floor as a byproduct. And floors throughout are laid in a mix of engineered timber, large-format tile, and – in the powder room – repurposed marble fragments scavenged from a stone supplier's scrap pile. The home doesn't rely on elaborate smart systems either. 'It's minimal,' Lim shrugs. 'We don't need fancy automation. It's about living comfortably, not responding to every trend.' The space feels broken up and reassembled from multiple angles, never offering a single fixed perspective. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM If QR3D feels unusually human for a house built by robots, that may be the point. Lim isn't content with technology for its own sake. With QR3D, he set out to prove that 3D printing could serve mainstream architecture, solve real-world problems, and still produce beautiful, meaningful homes. 'It's still early,' he says. 'But I hope 3D-printing becomes a genuine value-engineering option – and not a novelty exercise.'
Hindustan Times
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
India's tryst with Cubism
MUMBAI: The Poet is unlike any Rabindranath Tagore sculpture there is. It has hollowed eyes, sunken cheeks, a lifeless beard and an excavated, hollowed brain. The composition is fragmented, distorted, yet vaguely familiar. In the work, sculptor Ramkinkar Baij (1906-1980) has rendered the Nobel Laureate in Cubist style. India's tryst with Cubism Pioneered by French artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Cubism was influenced by the industrialization of the 1900s, when machines, factories, trains, buildings and geometric and structured shapes mushroomed rapidly and everywhere. Like Baij, many Indian artists, especially the modernists, experimented with the art form. They broke away from traditional Indian styles and created new ways to express Indian identity by experimenting with western styles. They, however, introduced Indian motifs, subjects and philosophies, to create their art, which resonated with the nationalist sentiment of the time, and yet was modern. About hundred such works, by 40 artists, produced from the 1920s until about 1960s, are on display at Colaba's DAG gallery, in an exhibition titled Deconstructed Realms: India's Tryst with Cubism. These include the works of Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Laxman Pai, Jyoti Bhatt, George Keyt and others. 'Artists have always examined any art movement—whether in India or abroad—to see if it suits their particular needs, and assimilated those that help them compose in ways that are meaningful for their audiences,' says Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director, DAG. Accordingly, Baij in his work tries to examine Tagore's inner world. Not as a poet, composer and a scholar but a man weighed down by personal and professional anxieties, grief and the burdens of the world. 'The most interesting aspect of Cubism in India is its gentle lyricism that imbues it with an Indian aesthetic… it was its flowing lines and poetic pace that set it apart from the harshness or anxiety reflected in Western art,' adds Anand. The exhibition traces the introduction of Cubism among Bengal artists, its refinement by those who studied or moved abroad, the blending of Cubism with regional motifs post-Independence, and the evolution of Cubist abstraction in Indian modernism. It also highlights the art style's influence on Indian modernists and how it transcended the canvas, extending into materials such as metal, wood, lacquer and cement. Gaganendranath Tagore (1867–1938) was at the forefront of this movement. He started experimenting with Cubist techniques around 1922, after an exhibition from Germany's art school Bauhaus in Calcutta. He created several ink and wash drawings and monochrome watercolours by creating fragmented, angular forms, layering planes and geometric shapes with Indian imagery, including Indian houses and temples and everyday scenes from Bengali life. His works influenced his student Prosanto Roy, as well as Nandalal Bose, who collectively helped shape the evolution of Cubism in India. One of the most striking works of the exhibition is Gaganendranath's black and white painting. It shows four ghost-like figures on a staircase surrounded by crammed buildings. The composition of this painting and other similar works are inspired by his experience in theatre design. He created stage-like compositions with contrasting light and dark areas populated by flat, ethereal figures. Another noteworthy work is GR Santosh's Aspiration. Set in Kashmir, it depicts a group of women against a backdrop dotted with village huts. Their clothes and jewellery are reminiscent in their sketchy details even though the landscape is far from what one associates with the Valley. Santosh's deliberate use of non-realist colours and his rendering of the figures and landscapes in panels reflect his brief tryst with cubism. Then there is the untitled 1952 painting by Paritosh Sen, a profile of a flautist, which was made sometime after Sen met Picasso while living in Europe. The works he produced there were simple, averse as he was to anything extraneous or superfluous, to which his interest in cubism greatly contributed. Using lines to divide the structure of the composition's subject into linear grids, Sen was mindful of his Indian heritage. The exhibition shows how Indian artists adapted Cubism, experimented with it and used the visual style to create a new vocabulary over the years to express Indian ideas. Where: DAG gallery, inside Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Colaba When: On till September 6, 11am to 7 pm. Closed on Sunday Entry is free
Business Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Times
No bricklayers, only robots: Singapore's first 3D printed house
[SINGAPORE] Most architects don't live inside their experiments. Lim Koon Park does. In the lush district of Bukit Timah, he's built a home that rewrites the rules of construction – layer by printed layer. QR3D, the first 3D-printed house in the country, is not just a technical first. It's a working, breathing home designed around light, air, and lived experience. Four levels. Seven bedrooms. A 6-metre-high concrete oculus at its heart. And no bricklayers in sight. For Lim, founder of the acclaimed architecture practice Park + Associates, QR3D is both a milestone and a meditation. 'We weren't interested in doing a technological demo,' he says, seated at his custom-made steel dining table. 'It had to be liveable. It had to feel like a real home.' The striated texture of concrete proudly reveals its 3D-printed origins. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM The result is a 6,130-square-foot residence that is both elemental and expressive – a structure that folds light and shadow into daily life, with surfaces that bear the imprint of their printmaking. The entire structure pivots around a dramatic cylindrical void – an oculus that rises from the dining room floor to a skylight above. This centrepiece – referred to in the family as 'the cone' – doesn't just dramatise the architecture. It also performs. Hidden within its striated 3D-printed walls is a passive ventilator typically found in factories, drawing hot air upward and out. 'The cone defines the way the house is configured,' Lim explains. 'Every room has a reminder of it. The space-making elements curve around it, responding to it. It's not decorative. It's spatial.' A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up The 6-metre tall 'cone' isn't just a skylight – it's a structural centrepiece around which the entire house radiates. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Because of the cone too, the rooms, corridors and stairwells don't flow in straight lines. They fracture and converge, tilt and realign, like the overlapping planes of a Cubist painting by Braque or Picasso. Space feels broken up and reassembled from multiple angles, never offering a single fixed perspective. Each child – Lim has four – has a room with its own personality: one with a loft, another with generous light, another with a secluded nook. The master bedroom sits behind a narrow window, modestly lit, because, as Lim says, 'we never opened the curtains anyway.' At the base of the cone, the dining area is celebrated as the heart of the home. 'We love food,' he smiles. 'And this was the space where everyone comes together.' Because of the cone, the corridors and stairwells seem to fragment and splinter like Cubist paintings. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM A house sculpted by code QR3D is 90 to 95 percent 3D-printed – a remarkable feat given Singapore's conservative building landscape. Partnering with local concrete printing specialist CES_InnovFab, the project split construction between on-site printing and off-site prefabrication. While some walls were layered outdoors under weather-controlled canopies, others were printed in a factory and trucked in. 'Certain inclines were a challenge,' Lim says. 'Concrete wants to slump. So we printed individual blocks – almost like bricks – and assembled them on site.' Other challenges bordered on the theatrical: limited nozzle access near party walls, power fluctuations interrupting the print flow, and humidity sabotaging consistency. In one case, a precast wall panel cracked during hoisting. 'We didn't anticipate the lifting forces,' he says. 'So we developed a hook system to distribute the load. You live and learn.' The textured wall surfaces add a subtle richness. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Lim is quick to note that while most of the vertical surfaces were printed, the structural slabs and columns remained conventional. The columns, for instance, were shaped using printed molds, then filled with rebar cages and cast concrete. 'We're not printing structure – yet,' he says. 'It's still reinforced concrete inside. But one day, maybe.' He is certainly thinking long-term: 'If I can make 3D-printing work with what I design, then it has a chance of going to the mainstream construction industry.' For an architect with more than two decades in practice, QR3D also marked a return to first principles. Lim didn't design a house to initially fit the printer. He sketched out the house by hand – unusual for him – and only later adapted it for printing: 'I didn't want the technology to lead. It should be a value-add – not a limitation.' The living room is tastefully furnished with statement pieces, including Le Corbusier armchairs. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Although this house took longer to complete than expected and didn't result in dramatic cost savings – at least not yet – Lim sees it as a pilot project for 3D-printed houses. 'After two or three more houses, it'll get faster. Once you amortize the machine cost and the team gains experience, the savings become real.' The biggest efficiencies come in the elimination of trades. 'You don't need to cut grooves for power points anymore,' he says. 'You just insert a foam block during printing and pop it out later.' No carpenters, no plasterers, no bricklayers. 'It's cleaner. It's faster. It's just the computer and a guy who programmes it.' Bedroom windows are deliberately made small to reduce heat gain. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM Sustainable, sensible, striking Despite its technological ambition, QR3D isn't showy. There's no polished chrome or futuristic gimmickry. Instead, the house embraces a quiet material honesty. The striated concrete surfaces – each layer of the print visible like tree rings – are left unpainted. That commitment to honesty extends to sustainability. Bedroom windows are small to reduce heat gain. A heat pump water heater cools the upper floor as a byproduct. And floors throughout are laid in a mix of engineered timber, large-format tile, and – in the powder room – repurposed marble fragments scavenged from a stone supplier's scrap pile. The home doesn't rely on elaborate smart systems either. 'It's minimal,' Lim shrugs. 'We don't need fancy automation. It's about living comfortably, not responding to every trend.' The space feels broken up and reassembled from multiple angles, never offering a single fixed perspective. PHOTO: DEREK SWALWELL & JOVIAN LIM If QR3D feels unusually human for a house built by robots, that may be the point. Lim isn't content with technology for its own sake. With QR3D, he set out to prove that 3D printing could serve mainstream architecture, solve real-world problems, and still produce beautiful, meaningful homes. 'It's still early,' he says. 'But I hope 3D-printing becomes a genuine value-engineering option – and not a novelty exercise.'
