Skip to main content

Here’s how Dutch engineers plan to build one of the world’s tallest ice towers

Oops! We couldn't load this video player
A group of researchers from the Netherlands’ Eindhoven University of Technology wants to build a record-breaking, 30-meter high tower of ice in China — and they need your help to do it.

Over the past six years, the Dutch researchers have worked to prove the potential of a certain type of high-tech ice as a building material; developing a special variant of the cold stuff that is reinforced using fibers from wood or cellulose to make it stronger and tougher. Having previously demonstrated the material closer to home with projects like a giant 2014 dome, which set a record for the largest ice dome ever built, they now want to head to China’s Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, the world’s largest ice event. Once there, the plan is to construct an enormous ice tower as the most impressive proof of concept yet for their chilly material.

Recommended Videos

“Previous projects were constructed in Finland,” Yaron Moonen, a graduate student from the University of Technology Eindhoven’s department of structural design and construction technology, told Digital Trends. “However, the unstable weather forced us to another place. That place is Harbin in China. Since the world ice festival is held there every year, it was the ideal place for our new project.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Creating their structures is not simply a matter of piling up reinforced ice. The process involves first creating the structure using inflatables, which are then sprayed layer by layer. An ice shell is then formed, the inflatable removed, and the structure is left with the ability to stand on its own.

For the Harbin project, Moonen and other researchers from Eindhoven and the Catholic University of Leuven are turning to Kickstarter to help fund their journey. While it’s not a classic Kickstarter in terms of bringing a product to market, the creators are nonetheless offering some pretty sweet rewards — ranging from samples of the material to a tour of the building site (flights not included). Plus you get the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you contributed to some fascinating work.

In the future, the dream is that the technology could help build sustainable housing on the approximately 12 percent of the Earth’s surface that’s permanently covered in snow and ice. “We try to show the possibilities of building with ice,” Moonen continued. “By building our projects, we hope to inspire people to use ice. Not only can it be used in areas with permafrost, but it can also be used as temporary storage during winter periods.”

The hope is that the reinforced fiber-packed ice could even extend to being a material for building on places like Mars, without having to transport large quantities of building materials into space to do so.

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Hyundai Ioniq 5 sets world record for greatest altitude change
hyundai ioniq 5 world record altitude change mk02 detail kv

When the Guinness World Records (GWR) book was launched in 1955, the idea was to compile facts and figures that could finally settle often endless arguments in the U.K.’s many pubs.

It quickly evolved into a yearly compilation of world records, big and small, including last year's largest grilled cheese sandwich in the world.

Read more
Global EV sales expected to rise 30% in 2025, S&P Global says
ev sales up 30 percent 2025 byd sealion 7 1stbanner l

While trade wars, tariffs, and wavering subsidies are very much in the cards for the auto industry in 2025, global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are still expected to rise substantially next year, according to S&P Global Mobility.

"2025 is shaping up to be ultra-challenging for the auto industry, as key regional demand factors limit demand potential and the new U.S. administration adds fresh uncertainty from day one," says Colin Couchman, executive director of global light vehicle forecasting for S&P Global Mobility.

Read more
Faraday Future could unveil lowest-priced EV yet at CES 2025
Faraday Future FF 91

Given existing tariffs and what’s in store from the Trump administration, you’d be forgiven for thinking the global race toward lower electric vehicle (EV) prices will not reach U.S. shores in 2025.

After all, Chinese manufacturers, who sell the least expensive EVs globally, have shelved plans to enter the U.S. market after 100% tariffs were imposed on China-made EVs in September.

Read more