Four countries in Latin America will have the first 3D printed house and neighborhood

The first 3D-printed house and neighborhood in Latin America will be installed in four countries. It is a project in which the firm Icon participates, with its Vulcan II machine, capable of printing a 3D house in less than 24 hours, according to its value proposition.

Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia were the countries chosen for this collaborative alliance, the firm Icon reported on its website. The review mentions the experience that New Story has had in these countries during the three recent years, in which it has served about 1,400 families with the need to have a roof. New Story is a non-profit organization that works for vulnerable populations in need of decent housing.

The target population, says Fuseproject, are families that live on $ 200 or less per year, whose access to decent housing is made more difficult by their social and economic conditions. Fuseproject is a creative studio that provided the design.

"These people, generally, are the last to benefit from innovation. We believe that designers, manufacturers, and technological innovators have the potential to provide, at an unprecedented speed, a housing design that can raise the quality of life of many of the poorest populations in the world. 3D printing, in particular, offers a powerful new tool to fulfill this mission."

The prototype of these houses was printed in 2018 by Icon in Austin, Texas, where the company is based, also in collaboration with New Story. It has 350 square meters and the printing took 47 hours for 10,000 dollars. In the process, he uses a special concrete mix, called Icon Lavacrete, as a material for manufacturing.

Its development was enhanced with the public presentation, in March 2019, of the Vulcan II machine, which will officially begin work in the summer of this year for some allies, including New Story and Fuseproject.

"Icon's team printed the house in its entirety using the Vulcan 3D, and once it was complete, Alchemy Builders' allies made the finishing touches including the roof, windows, sunsets and electrical installations with conventional methods," explains the firm in reference to the first prototype made in Austin.

The designers of Fuseproject have been in contact with the communities for which they are developing the houses to learn more about their cultures and environments and make sure that they are being provided with options that respond to their needs beyond what I would do a traditional design.

"We used 3D technology and with the design, we had to answer questions related to the climate, the family structure and the role of the houses in the creation of an extensive community."

The Icon will focus its efforts on developing collaborative projects in 2019 but announces that from 2020 will receive proposals from those interested in printing their own 3D houses, with a capacity of up to 2,000 square meters, which would take three days of printing. New Story estimates that in the world about 1 billion people are living in homes with a precarious situation.