Humans have been building houses from mud for more than 9000 years. Now, a new concept of using 3D printers to provide low-cost, quickly built housing in the poorest areas of the planet revives this idea. In a world where nearly one billion people are homeless or live in substandard housing, this could be a revolution.

The Italian printing company, WASP, developed an easy transportable 3D printer that is able to build a house at nearly zero cost from mud and natural fibers. These materials can easily be found basically everywhere. Houses built this way are not only created in a very short time compared to traditional dwellings, they also have an additional advantage: they are environmentally friendly, having a very low carbon footprint and a sustainable nature. Only two people are sufficient to assemble the printer on place, an operation that takes about two hours, and 3m tall houses can be created. The building process takes altogether a few weeks.

As for now, only a small scale model of a building made of clay and sand was produced, but the first full size models will be printed in the course of next year.

Low cost, easily build shelters would change the life of millions of people in the poorest regions of the world, and would offer a new, solid home to people that have fled theirs because of wars or poverty. Though for the moment the potential of the project was demonstrated only by building a small model house at the Rome’s maker fair, its potential as a game changer for the living conditions of the poorest is clearly enormous.

image courtesy of pixabay.com