Friday, May 16, 2014

Democratization of Construction: Who is Our Next Builders


Chinese Company Assembles 10 3D-Printed Concrete Houses in a Day for Less Than $5,000 Each










A Shanghai building company recently constructed a small community of partially 3D-printed houses in less than a day. Unlike DUS Architects' ongoing aims to completely 3D-print a canal house in Amsterdam however, the Chinese company WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co. printed the basic components separately before assembling them on site. Although these concrete houses do not represent 3D printing in its purest form, their construction in such a short time span for just $4,800 each is no less impressive.

Read more: Chinese Company Assembles 10 3D-Printed Concrete Houses in a Day for Less Than $5,000 Each | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building 
A massive 3D printer measuring 490 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 20 feet deep was used to 3D print each of the structural components from the giant concrete slabs to the inner cross bracing. To cut down on costs, WinSun fabricated the frame from layers of concrete partly made from recycled construction waste, industrial waste, and glass fibers. Each house is approximately 2,100 square feet.  













  



 





  




WinSun also plans to open 100 recycling factories in the country to continue to transform waste into cost-effective “ink” for their 3D printers. By doing so, Winsun estimates that this kind of 3D printing could cut costs for construction companies in half. If these 3D-printed houses catch on, the company also hopes that the technology could provide affordable housing for the impoverished.



2 comments:

  1. I wonder how this will be accepted in the US or in SE Asia considering there is some stigma associated with the "Made in China" label.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder two things -
    What does this house weigh with all that layered concrete?
    What if water is the resource you are lacking?

    ReplyDelete