Above photo: New 3D-printed welcoming center at Community First’s second-phase development Regan Morton Photography
Note: A Popular Resistance reader sent us the article below and additional information about using 3-D printed homes to ameliorate the homeless crisis in US cities. Rehabilitate for Humanity points out that the non-profit, New Story, has teamed up with 3D printer company ICON to produce the first ever 3D printed home in the US that were permitted. They can print a house in about 24 hours for $10,000. They are starting a project to print an entire village of 3D homes in El Salvador for $4,000 per home. This video shows a home being built in Austin in 27 hours.
Homelessness, shanty towns, migrant camps, and urban ghettos around the world can be rapidly transformed in an affordable way around the world with this new technology. The technology is transforming housing. This video shows how it is being used and includes images of a 3-D printed homes community in the Netherlands that looks like a sculpture garden. See also the photo at right and this article.
This technology is still in the early stages of development but is being used all over the world so there are lots of lessons being learned. As this is perfected the potential for transforming the housing crisis in the US and around the world is significant. KZ
Local activation of cutting-edge tech for social good could have worldwide implications.
Community First Village, run by Mobile Loaves and Fishes to provide permanent, personal housing and services for homeless people in Austin, had quite the breakthrough day Monday. Partnering with Austin-based Icon and Cielo property group, it opened the second phase of its development with a 3D-printed prototype house that will serve as a welcome center for the community. The 500-square-foot building took a total of 27 hours to print.
That was only the beginning, according to said Alan Graham, founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes: “ICON is pushing the envelope and is technologically laying out a new way of looking at how we build homes,” he said. “One of our desires is that this partnership with ICON will grow so deep that we’re able to leverage this technology to someday build all of our microhomes in future phases of the village.” Graham and the nonprofit he heads hope to “demonstrate why Community First! Village is at the epicenter of innovation in our country in terms of communities and movements that are effectively addressing homelessness.”
It’s a point that would be hard to argue. ICON, which uses robotics, software, and advanced materials (including its proprietary “Lavacrete”) to remove numerous barriers in the contemporary building industry, debuted its first 3D printer and the country’s first permitted, 3D-printed home in at SXSW 2018 in Austin. That home was a prototype made in partnership with internationally focused housing nonprofit New Story. (That project seems to have gotten off the ground, bringing on marquee designer Yves Béhar to work on a community of the homes, planned to provide low-income housing in an undisclosed Latin American city.)
The next year, ICON debuted and started shipping its upgraded Vulcan II 3D printer, one of which was promptly commissioned by Cielo to be used exclusively to print affordable housing locally. The completion of the 3D-printed home on Monday was a milestone for the second phase of Community First, which will feature multiple variations on the homes, designed by Logan and printed simultaneously to further increase speed and reduce cost—the latter, simultaneous printing, another first. A set of six will be printed for the community this year.
Cielo worked with Cedar Creek Interiors, Logan Architecture, and Claire Zinnecker Designs on the welcome (and welcoming) center. Industry West donated the furniture. “I wanted the Welcome Center to feel warm, inviting and homey. Utilizing bright colors, interesting shapes, and warm, natural materials, we created a space that makes visitors feel comfortable from the moment they walk in. This is a monumental moment, and I wanted the space to acknowledge and celebrate that.”
In 2017, Graham announced a 10-year plan to mitigate homelessness in Austin, along with a $60 million capital campaign to fund expansion of its innovative Community First Village, a development that includes tiny houses, recreational vehicles, and “canvas-sided” homes (sturdy tents with concrete foundations), created with a community of volunteers, entrepreneurs, designers, and city leaders to as a permanent housing model for people who experience chronic homelessness.
Phase II adds 24 acres to the northeast Austin development, bringing the entire property to 51 total acres. When completed and at full capacity, Community First will have space for around 480 formerly homeless people. According to a February Austin Monitor story, the total number of people estimated to be without homes in 2019 would likely be around 2,247.
In large part because of its forward-thinking founder, Community First has been at the vanguard of the intersection of technology and social good. As the group expands and enhances its ability to offer real, lasting solutions to homelessness, that kind of collaboration is proving fruitful. “One of our fantasies is that this partnership with ICON and Mobile Loaves and Fishes will grow so deep that we’re able to leverage this technology to build all of our homes. We completely see that as a big, future mission,” said Graham. “Community First is the perfect place on the planet to experiment with that.”