3 D Housing? Anyone seen these?

[SteveinMN]

Looks like a fad to me. The key phrase is "We are actually limited more by road transport of the buildings than the actual ability to print," This will never be practical as long as they have to print the house sections in a factory and transport them to the building site.

For a couple of decades now, there has been a movement to try to establish upper-scale prefab housing as an alternative to stick-built; typically modern designs. The sales hook is supposed to be the high quality and greater efficiency they can maintain by building panels in a controlled environment using the same workers and standardized processes and leaving to the site just situating the panels and connecting them and connecting utilities.

The effort hasn't progressed much; too many zoning codes treat these structures as mobile homes, which have a completely different reputation and are actively being pushed out of many locales. The price hasn't been competitive with stick-built either, but some of that has to do with the skill levels and transience of the stick-build crews. It would not surprise me to see the 3D-printed house fall into the same legislative hole.

[GeorgeParker]

Wright’s American System- Built system houses were created in his plan for affordable houses. Yes, he was interested in, and contributed to affordable housing....His Usonian homes were intended to be affordable, simple, houses for the middle class. Those are the block ones I am thinking of.

Those aren't the concrete block ones I was referring too, nor are they what comes up when you Google his name and "concrete block homes".

But primarily you and I have a translation problem. "Affordable housing" is the code word for "Houses built for poor people who can't afford a house." It also usually means housing that is owned or subsidized by the government or a charitable organization like Habitat For Humanity https://www.habitat.org/

"Affordable" in this context has nothing to do with middle-class or middle-income, although it's easy to see how Wright would have classified houses for middle-income people as "affordable" compared to typical architect-designed houses that were usually one of a kind. (Big Secret: Most houses used to be designed by a local builder or carpenter who copied or adapted a style he was familiar with to suit the needs of his customer, not by an actual architect.)

Some areas (Silicon Valley for example) have a problem because housing demand is so high and salaries are so high that even middle-income families can't afford to live there, but that's a different problem from what is usually meant by affordable housing, and in my experience it is refered to by different terms such as "housing affordability".

[iris lilies]

Yes, I think when Wright was thinking “affordable” he meant for middle-class people, not the typical clientele of architects.

As an aside, we’ve had architects for two of our houses. That is not a big deal service.

[GeorgeParker]

As an aside, we’ve had architects for two of our houses. That is not a big deal service.

But they weren't Frank Lloyd Wright.

As an aside, Google says "Architects' fees vary widely, depending on the project, the local economy, and the architect's experience and reputation. Fees typically range from $2,014 to $8,375, with an average of $5,126. But fees can be much higher than that, depending on the size and complexity of the job."

And yes, when you make $25,000/year gross. $5,000-$8,000 extra expense really is a big deal compared to using a stock blueprint you can buy for less than $500 or a blueprint your builder already owns and has build 50 times for other people.

[ToomuchStuff]

There was a video I saw a couple weeks ago. The first for sale one is priced at $300k:

[iris lilies]

There was a video I saw a couple weeks ago. The first for sale one is priced at $300k:

I think this is a handsome modern house, the exterior I mean. I’m talking about the one in the video. I’m not sure what I think about cement interior walls but I sorta like that texture.

[Tradd]

IL, if this is in CA, I actually think concrete isn't a bad idea, especially if it's in a wlldfire prone area

[jp1]

IL, if this is in CA, I actually think concrete isn't a bad idea, especially if it's in a wlldfire prone area

I’d be curious how these houses do in earthquakes.

[iris lilies]

I’d be curious how these houses do in earthquakes.

I thought of that. I doubt they have the reinforcement that is required of concrete structures in earthquake country.

[razz]

Google found this house built with walls 8 foot thick in 2016.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...ul-earthquakes