Update (Sept. 10): Kanye West’s dome housing prototypes in Calabasas have been taken down, according to TMZ. The domes were destroyed just shy of the Sept. 15 deadline imposed by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, who said the houses were in violation of building code. With West having construction crews working feverishly to get the project done, neighbors became annoyed and called the cops on the workers in August.
Kanye West is always searching for innovative ventures to expand his Yeezy empire and improve society’s appearance. His latest endeavor finds him in the process of delivering on his promise to build a dome-like housing community in the heart of Calabasas, Calif. TMZ got its hands on the first photos of the structures going up on Wednesday (July 31).
The Star Wars-inspired homes are being built on 300 acres of California land that West purchased years ago with plans of crafting his own housing development. TMZ reports that workers by the dozens have been going in and out of the site for weeks, but the dome prototypes remain in an early stage.
Sources familiar with the project say Kanye has hopes of one day breaking the typical classist divide in America that separates the poor from the rich. Those that have seen the structures estimate each dome to be about 50 feet in height and their aesthetic feels “otherworldly.”
Forbes recently provided further detail of West’s vision in a July cover story. “Inspired by Luke Skywalker’s childhood home, West has been working with a team to design prefabricated structures that sport the same austere aesthetic, with the goal of deploying them as low-income housing units,” Zack O’Malley Greenburg wrote.
Check out early photos over at TMZ.