Cited on HN 3 times, 2018–2019, never outright recommendedscore 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Cited as a concrete example that 3D-printed houses already exist and are cheap.
A short Insider Tech video on New Story and ICON building 3D-printed homes that can go up in under 24 hours for around $4,000. It frames the effort as a way to address global homelessness.
“These guys are building small houses with a thing that prints in layers just like a home 3D printer, using mortar instead of plastic.” (HN, 2018)
These guys are building small houses with a thing that prints in layers just like a home 3D printer, using mortar instead of plastic. [this video] It looks like there's manually placed metal mesh for reinforcement. Dunno what the quality's like, but it's there. It does seem like it would be tricky to scale to structures larger than the practical footprint of their printer, but maybe the thing could be mounted on wheels.
Example of 3D-printed houses using mortar and metal mesh.
Already have: [this video] (The workmanship isn't as good as a conventional contractor, but you can't beat the price, and they're being aimed at people who would otherwise be homeless or living in shantytowns.)
FWIW, they show the mesh in the first few seconds of this video: [this video] Personally I think they should emphasize the manual labor requirements. One of the strongest criticisms of 3D-printed and prefab housing technology is that it reduces demand for low-skilled labor. For the past 80 years home construction has been a major pillar of the American labor economy; likewise for China and many other countries. Free or reduced cost housing is great, but to the extent it comes at the expense of a sustainable labor economy, then it's problematic.
Shows the reinforcement mesh in the first seconds.
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