Dutch architects to use 3D printer to build a house
News: Dutch architecture studio Universe Architecture is planning to construct a house with a 3D printer for the first time.
The Landscape House will be printed in sections using the giant D-Shape printer, which can produce sections of up to 6 x 9 metres using a mixture of sand and a binding agent. Update: read our interview with Universe Architecture's Janjaap Ruijssenaars about this project.
Architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars of Universe Architecture will collaborate with Italian inventor Enrico Dini, who developed the D-Shape printer, to build the house, which has a looping form based on a Möbius strip.
3D printing website 3ders.org quoted Ruijssenaars as saying: "It will be the first 3D printed building in the world. I hope it can be opened to the public when it's finished.”
The team are working with mathematician and artist Rinus Roelofs to develop the house, which they estimate will take around 18 months to complete.
The D-Shape printer will create hollow volumes that will be filled with fibre-reinforced concrete to give it strength. The volumes will then be joined together to create the house.
In 2009 architect Andrea Morgante used the D-Shape printer to create a 3m high pavilion, which was the largest object ever created on a 3D printer at the time.
In October last year, architects Softkill Design unveiled a proposal to print a house based on bone structures.
See all our stories about 3D printing.