Renzo Piano’s giant glass cube towers over the rest of the Stirling prize’s samey brick-built shortlist Catherine Slessor

Texas Testbed: What's next for 3D-printed homes Nicole Cobler This report is part of "Texas Testbed," a series on how the state is becoming a real-world lab for emerging technologies. Giant robotic printers are back at Community First! Village, building more than 100 homes as part of the East Austin neighborhood's expansion for people coming out of homelessness. Why it matters: It's just one sign of how Texas has quietly become the proving ground for one of homebuilding's biggest experiments: 3D-printed homes. Driving the news: University of Texas architecture professor Kory Bieg, who researches digital fabrication and emerging technology, says 3D-printed construction is finally beginning to mature after more than a decade of experimentation.