In the age of the so-called fourth industrial revolution, can we expect to see huge 3D printers on our building sites rather than armies of brickies?
An engineering firm Aurecon (one of the partners on the Kooky Cubby project), points to a variety of early experiments around the world: 3D printed concrete houses in China, a low-income “contour crafted” building design in California and a fully functioning office in Dubai.
The Wasp project is embarking on just such a mission. Led by the Italy-based 3D printing firm Centro Sviluppo Progetti (CSP), the initiative has set its sights on printing houses in situ using materials from the immediate area.
As a first step, it has built a 12m high, solar-powered 3D printer that uses water, vegetable fibre and soil to build a basic adobe-like structure. CSP is planning to use the Big Delta printer to build an experimental eco-village in an industrial zone in Massa Lombarda, an Italian town near Bologna.
Another 3D printing construction project that has generated a great deal of excitement is a proposed steel bridge in Amsterdam. After several years of experimentation and testing, the Dutch robotics firm MX3D hopes to start manufacturing the horizontal-structured bridge in the next couple of months.
The University of Cranfield is a pioneer in the metal printing technology used for the Amsterdam bridge. His team has just printed a 6m space-grade aluminum spar for the wing of a plane that could easily be repurposed as a girder for a building.
Among the factors in the 3D printing technology’s favour are productivity gains, reduced labour costs and safer working environments, as well as the sort of one-off, complex building designs that are not technically and economically feasible at present.
As for the skills required, tomorrow’s building engineers and architects will ideally need to master the software programming skills on which 3D printing rests. Learning to co-work with automated technology will be an increasingly important requirement for the welders, masons, bricklayers, carpenters and other workers who physically build our houses and offices too.
Don’t expect widespread redeployment in the sector just yet. Some jobs will be completed much more efficiently by robots than by people, but you always need skilled craftsmen on the spot. The one thing you can’t teach a robot is to be creative.
Source: Building by numbers: how 3D printing is shaking up the construction industry
 |
| 3D printed treehouse. by FMSA Architecture’s Kooky Cubby, at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show |
An engineering firm Aurecon (one of the partners on the Kooky Cubby project), points to a variety of early experiments around the world: 3D printed concrete houses in China, a low-income “contour crafted” building design in California and a fully functioning office in Dubai.
 |
| 3D printed housing and construction project : WASP's Shamballa Technological Park |
The Wasp project is embarking on just such a mission. Led by the Italy-based 3D printing firm Centro Sviluppo Progetti (CSP), the initiative has set its sights on printing houses in situ using materials from the immediate area.
As a first step, it has built a 12m high, solar-powered 3D printer that uses water, vegetable fibre and soil to build a basic adobe-like structure. CSP is planning to use the Big Delta printer to build an experimental eco-village in an industrial zone in Massa Lombarda, an Italian town near Bologna.
 |
| A test bridge made by the Dutch robotics firm MX3D. The company plans to build the world’s first 3D-printed bridge across an Amsterdam canal. |
Another 3D printing construction project that has generated a great deal of excitement is a proposed steel bridge in Amsterdam. After several years of experimentation and testing, the Dutch robotics firm MX3D hopes to start manufacturing the horizontal-structured bridge in the next couple of months.
The University of Cranfield is a pioneer in the metal printing technology used for the Amsterdam bridge. His team has just printed a 6m space-grade aluminum spar for the wing of a plane that could easily be repurposed as a girder for a building.
Among the factors in the 3D printing technology’s favour are productivity gains, reduced labour costs and safer working environments, as well as the sort of one-off, complex building designs that are not technically and economically feasible at present.
As for the skills required, tomorrow’s building engineers and architects will ideally need to master the software programming skills on which 3D printing rests. Learning to co-work with automated technology will be an increasingly important requirement for the welders, masons, bricklayers, carpenters and other workers who physically build our houses and offices too.
Don’t expect widespread redeployment in the sector just yet. Some jobs will be completed much more efficiently by robots than by people, but you always need skilled craftsmen on the spot. The one thing you can’t teach a robot is to be creative.
Source: Building by numbers: how 3D printing is shaking up the construction industry
Comments