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Could 3D Printing be the Future of Social Housing?

由专筑网小R，吴静雅编译

这一切都是最近发生的：不到1年的时间里，法国有了世界上第一户居住于3D打印住宅的家庭，在20年前，这似乎还是个遥远的梦想，随着技术的发展，这项成就似乎能够缓解世界各地的住房危机。

This is all quite recent: less than a year ago, a French family became the first in the world to live in a 3D printed house. Short of 20 years, this seemed like a distant dream, this new technology has developed quickly, and it arises as a possible contribution to the housing crisis around the world.


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中国公司WinSun是第一个设计建造了这座3D打印住宅的公司，在2013年，在24小时之内，能够打印10座住宅。这些住宅需要进行人工组装，它们的墙体在工厂中打印而成，然后运送到各个场地上。旧金山新兴公司Apis Core也在2018年成功地设计建造了此类型住宅，整个过程花费大约为10000美元。另外，迪拜也已经对此进行了规划，希望到2025年，城市中有四分之一的建筑都由3D打印完成。这项规划也促进了阿拉伯和迪拜成为了3D打印的技术核心，它们即将成为3D打印领域的佼佼者。

NASA发起了一次竞赛，希望建筑师与工程师能够在外太空探索适宜人们居住的场所。竞赛的获奖者就开发了3米高的3D打印原型，其中由可生物降解与可回收的玄武岩制作而成，这些玄武岩是来源于火星的自然材料，而月球殖民的一大障碍便是材料运输和人工成本，那么使用天然材料与机器控制的3D打印便不受这些障碍的影响，同时构建整个环境体系，让人们得以生存。NASA构建了设计工作室，希望能够在外太空设立生活区。

The Chinese company WinSun was the first to build a 3D printed house, and in 2013 it was able to print 10 houses in a period of 24 hours. These homes required human assemblage, given that their walls were printed at a plant to be transported to the respective sites. The San Francisco startup company Apis Core successfully built a residence of this nature as their final domain in a single day in the year 2018, the process was worth around $10,000 USD. Dubai, on the other hand, has created a plan for a fourth of the new buildings in the city to be 3D printed by 2025. This initiative was created to promote the United Arab Emirates and Dubai as its technological center for 3D printing. The city is striving to become the world leader in 3D printing for civil construction.
NASA promoted a contest to encourage architects and engineers to explore alternatives and possibilities for the construction of habitable constructions in outer space. The winner developed a prototype for 3D printing 3 meters high, composed of biodegradable and recyclable basalt derived from natural materials found on Mars. One of the main obstacles in the colonization of the moon is the cost of material transportation and the (foreseeable) difficulty to get in situ work crews. 3D printing with native materials and computer-controlled robots could eliminate these obstacles, thus placing structures and even environmental systems to allow human livelihood. NASA is supporting a viability studio designed to determine whether it is possible for a colony to be established.


© AI-SpaceFactory

混凝土的3D打印设备能够达到快速有效的施工，其受控于计算机，从而构成三维形态。机器就能够很好地处理这些混凝土层，然后逐步构成建筑的墙体，整个过程只需要少数技术人员进行操作监控即可。这个过程包含有三个部分，即数据准备、混凝土配置、最终打印。在施工过程中，3D打印能够有效地完成复杂体量空间的制作，其优势并不局限于此，由于施工时间缩短，这项技术的能耗、成本、产生的废料都会减少。但是，每个新兴产业都需要磨合的过程，同时也有很多细节在不断完善，最终会成为为社会所广泛接受的方式。

Devices of 3D printing in concrete offer a quick and economic method for civil construction, thus creating three-dimensional shapes through a computer-controlled process. A machine basically disposes layers of concrete that gradually build the walls of the house, needing only a small crew to operate it remotely via tablet. This process consists of three parts: data preparation, concrete concoction, and the printing itself. In civil construction, 3D printing is particularly useful to fabricate geometrically complex components. Although the upsides don’t end there: due to the reduction of construction time, this technology promises less energy consumption, lower costs and reducing residue production. As any other innovation nonetheless, there’s still a lot to work on and to develop until it represents a viable, sustainable and widely utilized one by the industry.


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同样地，也会有人认为3D打印并不能取代传统的方式，但是这项技术有着很实用的整体策略，前文也提及它能够完成许多复杂的工艺，另外一个需要考虑的问题便是自然灾害，例如飓风与地震会让人们流离失所，3D打印则可以快速地进行建筑的重建，最后，3D打印的成本较低、效率较高，它甚至可以成为居住建筑的一大选项，以下是该技术的特点：

Some people think it is difficult for 3D printing to replace traditional methods, but clearly, this technology delivers quite practical solutions. Starting with the aforementioned construction of conspicuous shapes that barely existed in construction projects so far. Another one to consider is in case of disasters: whenever a hurricane or an earthquake destroys infrastructure leaving thousands of people homeless, 3D printers can be used to quickly rebuild bridges, highways, and residencies. Finally; due to its low cost and high efficiency, 3D printed housing can become a practical option for subsidiary habitational projects. Check out some characteristics of large-scale 3D printing below:


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优势

• 低误差：大部分工作都由软件与机器完成，因此有较低的误差幅度和意外情况；
• 低成本：首座3D打印住宅的成本相较于传统施工方法，要减少20%，而且据估计，在5年之内，这个数字会降低25%，而在10至15年内，也许还能降低40%。这是由于在后期技术会愈来愈完善，成本便愈来愈低；
• 墙体的快速制作；
• 生态材料的使用可能性：3D打印技术结合了诸如砂石、混凝土、纤维、可回收材料等生态材料。

Pros
• Lower Margin of Error: Most of the work is done by software and machines, thus there is a lower margin of error and of undesirable surprises.
• Lower cost: The cost of the first 3D printed house was 20% less than it would have been if done via traditional methods - also it is estimated that the cost reduction will be of 25% in 5 years’ time and up to 40% in 10 to 15 years. This is partly because technology gets refined and cheaper to develop as more houses are built.
• Speedy printing of walls.
• Possibility of using ecological materials: 3D printers combine diverse materials like sand, concrete, fibers, and recyclables.


© AI-SpaceFactory


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劣势

• 只能打印墙体：3D打印技术目前只能应用于墙体的打印，其他诸如基础、管道、门窗等部分仍然需要经过传统的建造。首个3D打印住宅大约花费了54个小时，但是另外的组合建造时间却花费了4个月；
• 初始投资较高：在整个行业中应用3D打印技术的成本较高，因此相关企业也面临着高风险挑战；
• 劳动力：在一个项目中，工人起到了非常重要的作用，合格工人的缺乏也会让项目瘫痪。在3D打印的施工现场，针对结构支撑、工作能力训练、材料的运输与储存方面都有着较大的需求，因此前期的投资较多，要达到最终的高效也较为困难；
• 建筑高度：这项技术当前无法建造很高的建筑。

Cons
• Printing walls only: 3D printers can only print walls so far. It is still necessary to build the foundation, plumbing, doors, windows, and all other components. The first inhabited 3D printed house took 54 hours to be printed, but it took another four months for it to be totally built.
• High initial investment: The initial capital required to incorporate 3D printing machinery into the field is considerably high, so companies face a challenge to establish successful entrepreneurship because of this.
• Labor: The lack of a qualified workforce may also act as a market obstacle, due to the vital role workers play in the project execution. Since logistics, installation and maintenance of a 3D printer in the construction site requires a strong investment in supporting structure, workforce training, and mainly studies for its transport and storage; its effective usage gets difficult.
• Height: This technology does not allow the construction of very high buildings yet.