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Architect Of Mansions Who Built With Air
- Wallace Neff was a celebrated architect for Hollywood elites who also pursued radical experiments in affordable housing.
- His shower‑inspired idea to “build with air” reframed construction as a material‑efficient opportunity.
How To Build An Air‑Form Bubble
- Use the air‑form method: pour a concrete slab, anchor an inflated balloon, then spray gunite and mesh to form a shell quickly.
- This technique lets two workers create a durable concrete dome in under 48 hours.
Gunite Made Thin Strong Shells Possible
- Gunite (shotcrete) bonds at high pressure and yields a shell stronger than standard concrete when sprayed onto forms.
- Neff leveraged gunite to make thin, robust dome shells that were fire-, earthquake-, and bomb‑resistant.