A 3D-Printed Community
John Hill
13. May 2019
Image courtesy of fuseproject
This summer, New Story, Icon, and Yves Béhar's Fuseproject will break ground on what they bill as the world's first 3D-printed community, for impoverished families somewhere in Latin America.
The dwellings — designed by Fuseproject, developed by New Story, and 3D-printed by Icon — are based on a house successfully 3D-printed in Austin, Texas, one year ago. According to a statement from Fuseproject, the new community will serve "a population of mostly farmers and palm-weavers," with designs following from a "series of on-the-ground workshops to understand and adapt plans and designs to the community’s habits, needs, culture, and climate."
Though the new community closely resembles it, features departing from the Texas dwelling include "an expanded outdoor area to allow for residents to keep chickens and gardens" and "an open living space with a clerestory that provides increased ventilation."
The Austin home, printed with Icon's Vulcan 3D printer, took 48 hours to print, but the team is developing Vulcan 2 with the goal of printing each house in just one day. The video below reveals how the team's dream of a 3D-printed community should happen later this year.