Author | Jaime Ramos3D printing is one of the most important technological advances in terms of revolutionising the economy and even our own lives this century, since there are very few manufactured products that cannot be printed. In fact, houses can now be designed and built thanks to the innovation of 3D printers.Architecture and the construction industry are preparing to tackle the impact of 3D printing on their way of working. Today, there are numerous 3D urban development projects which, as experiments, are working on the dream of building houses with negligible budgets and in very little time. This could therefore be a possible turning point in terms of planning.
How much would a 3D printed house cost?
Plenty of companies are already getting ready for the adventure. The projects have a common denominator: the low final price of the property. In the United States, you can find them for around 10,000 dollars. In Europe, specifically in Italy, there are already 3D printer companies such as Wasp. This firm completed an architectural project last year that focused particularly on sustainability.
A back-up for architectural heritage
The advantages of combining architecture and 3D printing also apply to the area of restoring architectural monuments. Notre Dame, after the devastating fire, is a perfect example of how technology can be used to help restore the monument.This is a reverse printing process, by taking a real building and creating a digital 3D replica to allow it to be rebuilt. In the case of the Paris cathedral, in 2015, the historian, Andrew Tallon, used this 3D scanning technology. This technology has given great hope for Notre-Dame, but also for countless other architectural gems that could be affected by fires or natural disasters.Having highly reliable 3D models could be of great help in the reconstruction of these buildings, staying faithful to the original design while using potentially more efficient construction techniques.3D urban planning, a new sector
