This Is The World’s First 3D-Printed Neighborhood
Set to take shape in Latin America, this sustainable and affordable plan to help the homeless through technology is gaining momentum.
Homelessness is one of the most persistent problems society has faced. Not only does it impact the 1.6 billion people who lack adequate housing in the world, but it also impacts you. For example, people without housing are high consumers of public resources and generate expenses for the community. Not only is it an economic problem, though, but one for public health as well. They often lack access to health care and have chronic illnesses caused by difficult living conditions, such as sleeping outside in bad weather and eating cheap, starchy foods.
We have tried multiple solutions, yet only a handful of them have worked (to some extent). For instance, the housing choice voucher program is the U.S. government’s major program for helping struggling families, the elderly, and the disabled afford decent housing.
The caveat of this program, however, is that federal funding for it is inadequate, so it ends up not helping as many people as desired.
Additionally, as cities grow and homelessness increases, these federal programs will become even more ineffective.
Recently, though, a joint initiative from non-profit New Story, design firm Fuseproject, and construction technology company Icon has developed a solution that could end homelessness for good. It’s affordable while being time-efficient and sustainable, combining technology and humanitarian efforts into something that will make a lasting positive impact.
Meet a blueprint of the world’s first 3D-printed neighborhood. This village will be in Latin America, specifically in the Mexican state of Tabasco, and will provide housing for many impoverished families. At the SXSW festival in Texas last year, the team revealed an impressive example of how this vision might take shape, showing off a full-sized proof of concept model of a 350 sq. ft. (32 sq. m.) home.
Yves Béhar, the founder of Fuseproject, even had this to say about the project:
“This project presents a number of exciting questions — how to innovate with a 3D printer to create a housing model that is replicable, built to last, and built to sustain multi-generational family growth; how to integrate local needs, traditions and techniques into several varied cutting edge technological designs; and how to create a structure that is simultaneously affordable, attractive, safe, and functional.
The process has been beautifully collaborative and has led to creative solutions for an adaptive design born in partnership with the local community.”
How Will This Be Accomplished?
Obviously, 3D-printing houses is much easier said than done. Many of us haven’t even seen that many 3D-printers — mostly just the ones at libraries or schools. Most people don’t have much experience with 3D design and printing, much less giant versions of these machines.
As a result, saying that they were 3D-printed leaves us with even more questions. What materials do you need to use in order to build these houses? What is the logic behind these designs? What is the process behind making this 3D-printed community?
To start off the process, Icon uses its Vulcan II printer (shown here) to create the basic layer of the house (the gray part).
The printer emits a mortar through the printer’s nozzle in programmed patterns, layer by layer, until this basic structure is formed. It’s just like a regular 3D printer, but everything is bigger — the nozzle, the material, and the printer itself.
After setting the basic layer, humans actually fit in windows, roofs, and other things to fill in the blank spaces — though New Story says it’s also a collaborative effort. Farmers and palm-weavers that will call these their home are taking an active part in the process through workshops on the ground, and the designers modifying the house to meet their needs, certain habits, and cultural traditions.
“As we spoke to the community members, we realized that a single house design doesn’t respond to the needs and expectations. This led us to design a system that allows for different programs, climate factors, and growth for families and spaces.”
How do they fit the homeowners’ local needs? There are many ways they do so, starting with the climate.
Since this village is being built in the Tabasco region of Mexico, it can get very rainy, and the house need to be able to protect families from lots of rain. To support this, the house has a tilted roof, in order for rain that falls on it to just slide down instead of putting tension on the roof. Also, a clerestory with puncture holes rests over the living space for good ventilation.
Additionally, because many of these low-income families are farmers, these homes have outdoor kitchens and large outdoor space for vegetable gardens or raising chickens. The interior, though, will feature kitchens, bathroom counters, shelves, and curved walls for easy cleaning.
New Story has already finished multiple homes for this village, and it plans to finish 50 by the end of 2020.
What Are The Benefits?
We can see that 3D-printed housing could be beneficial and innovative, but how? How can this concept help the environment and the homeless, while using technology and integrating local needs? Here’s how:
3D-printing is a more sustainable technology.
In the past few years, we have been pushing ‘sustainable technology’ a lot more, in order to benefit the environment.
Lots of CO², methane, and similar waste products are produced in the process of building traditional houses. However, 3D-printing can give us a quicker and more sustainable approach. First of all, manufacturing with fabrics and metals leaves a lot left over and wasted, while 3D-printing can create more efficient designs and create much less waste.
Also, the technology allows engineers to make lighter, more efficient creations. System having lighter parts results in less fuel needed to burned during operation, and those fuel savings culminate into less CO² emissions into our atmosphere.
These homes are cost-effective and affordable.
Some people could argue that 3D-printing still costs money to use, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to let homeless people with low incomes pay the rent for it. However, this is simply not true.
It actually costs much less to build a house by 3D printing. For example, you don’t pay as much for vehicles and materials when you make this kind of house. According to New Atlas, the house shown here costs about $10,000 to build, and built it in 48 hours as a proof of concept in 2019. These homes don’t have price tags yet, but New Story says it’s working with families to have them pay about 20 to 30% of their income.
Additionally, the construction tech company Icon (one of the main contributors to the project) says that its new Vulcan II printer can print the structural elements in 24 hours, produce almost zero waste and remains functional in terrains where there may be a lack of power, water, or typical labor infrastructure.
Homeless families will be able to live more fulfilling lives.
Being homeless is tough, especially growing up in those conditions. It can take a serious toll on one’s mental and physical health, to they point where they might turn to drugs and alcohol.
Homeless families face this stress constantly, along with the other consequences — such as causing low productivity at work, mental illnesses, domestic violence, and children growing up in stressful living conditions.
These drastically lower prices on homes could help millions of homeless people — through giving them a space to live, safety, and helping them lose some of the stress that comes with receiving low income.
“We seem to just accept that there will always be homelessness or there will always be people who don’t have any access to education or water.
We have some of the brightest minds and we have the most promising technology in Silicon Valley working on elite problems. How can we rethink and reshape existing and budding technology toward these more pressing issues?”
What Does This Mean For The Future?
Okay, so 3D-printing houses is quicker, more sustainable, and affordable. If this is true, why aren’t all our houses being 3D-printed right now? Well, as with all other new technology, this is only the beginning. Theses kinds of houses aren’t perfect, and not yet fit for the average homeowner.
We still have a lot of more work to do in this field — ranging from being able to create thousands of different designs to learning how these types of houses can adjust to different economies. Additionally, there are concerns about how 3D-printing does consume a lot of energy.
However, innovation never stops, and the use of 3D-printing in architecture has taken significant steps forward in recent years — becoming more advanced, innovative, and versatile. For example, we have seen this technology put to use to construct offices, a castle and even 10 houses in 24 hours by a Chinese firm called Winsun.
I believe this technology has huge potential in the future, and I am very excited to see what happens next. Although this is an exciting phenomenon, we still have more work to do. As we learn more about the technology’s disadvantages and try our best to fix them and improve, we can make the world a better place, especially for families of low-income.
We are pushing boundaries here, and the advancements we make in the future can certainly change public health, the environment, and humanity for the better.
Want to learn more about 3D-printing houses? Check out these informative articles and videos:
