You wouldn’t download a house… Or would you?
3-D printing has been a hot topic in recent times due to the availability of 3-D printers and design software to the consumer market.
3-D printers allow consumers to design or download a file that holds the specifications for a physible, which is a file containing the information needed to print 3-D object.
Designing products with computers is very common and an industry standard, but the ability for consumers to purchase 3-D printers to print out physical items within their very own homes is a relatively new trend.
Although 3-D printers used by consumers (and by students here at UW) are capable of printing relatively small objects, a professor at the University of South California has invented a 3-D printer that is capable of building a 2,500 square foot home within 20 hours.
Prof. Behrokh Koshnevis believes the technology can be used to build homes in unique situations. What’s more interesting is that NASA is supportive of the idea and may decide to implement it on the Moon or Mars.
The use of 3-D printers to build houses and laboratories in outer space is ideal due to the fact that a construction crew being sent to outer space for the sole purpose of construction would be prohibitive.
Can you imagine building a structure with a space suit on?
Chances are you’re not going to see suburbs or condos being built by 3-D printers anytime soon.
It’s definitely an area that has not received a lot of attention in terms of advancement.
“If you look around yourself, pretty much everything is made automatically today— your shoes, your clothes, home appliances, your car,” said Khoshnevis during a TED Talk.
“The only thing that is still built by hand are these buildings.”
3-D printing allows for many architectural features to be implemented, some of which are currently not feasible such as curved walls.
3-D printing is something to keep an eye out for. From 3-D printed organs to houses, this may be a new revolution.
