Are any architects currently working on a 3D-printed project? - as a designer of environmental custom homes I'm interested in the construction detailing for the permit set - how is fenestration handled such as door and window bucks? - I also wonder how structural reinforcement, electrical races, plumbing, and piping is is detailed or addressed in the design process - do architects see this as a sustainable building technology future or is this process just a trending development?
Not to be a dick andt it, I started in construction, but the required qualifications to be framing labour are "can you count to 24?," "do you own a hammer?," and "are you somewhat sober at the moment?
Meanwhile the 3D printing equipment requires a supervisor with a STEM degree, as well as the labour to keep things up and running (and they won't be up and running for very long on any construction site I've ever seen). And you can bet that the manufacturers of the printing equipment will require builders to only use their proprietary material, and you'll only be able to get them repaired by the same company, just like John Deere has been doing lately. It's a mess with no clear vision, and frankly it doesn't solve any problems whatsoever.
Hard to imagine that 3D printing would ever be cheaper or easier than having a bunch of reprobates bang up a stick frame house in a couple days. Spoken as someone who spent a summer on a framing crew stoned out of my mind every day.
CO is the last state the out of state people can get an over the counter tag for bowhunting elk. It's only in certain 'zones'. This was the last season that it's going to be allowed. After this out of state people have to put into a lottery to get an elk tag.
I must of saw two dozen Texas trucks out for the entire month in a last attempt to get an elk. Really put a lot of pressure on the elk.
seems to be early days still. Too soon to call it doa.
We used a robot to 3d print large PLA pieces for a project last year and it was sooo finicky that I will definitely think twice about trying that again. Looking at clay printers and concrete printers the setup looks less troublesome and it seems viable. I am friendly with a few of the architects making robot printed ceramic facades and other cool things and can see they have sorted out a lot of technical hurdles. So why not entire buildings?
The logistics and ability to tweak stuff on the fly is a sticking point. The skill level point is also pretty strong. On the other hand there is a shortage of skilled workers in Japan right now, leading construction companies to lean on robotic construction techniques. We will see a lot of that from now on, maybe not in the USA, but in other parts of the world for sure. In that case, as part of a new robotic ecosystem 3d printing may not be so out place
Then again, carpentry is a skilled profession in Japan, meaning the building culture is starting from a higher expectation of quality.
Not the same things but we are working on a few projects at the 2025 EXPO right now, mostly using CLT. The construction is pretty amazing once the foundation is in place. Very fast and logistically a great way to build since its all dry construction. When I was a student 20 years ago this kind of construction was still conceptual more than reality, and we didnt once study it seriously or talk about it in class. It is becoming pretty normal now though. 3d printing could follow the same path, as long as it solves a problem one way or another - logistics, people power, economics, time, design, or something else.
From what I can see so far most of the uncertainty about the technique is that it isn't really needed for any of the above. Mostly its just cool. But that doesnt mean its not worth doing and wont go anywhere.
Probably not on this earth. maybe somewhere different.
Oct 7, 24 3:35 pm ·
·
OddArchitect
Funny you bring that up JCL-1.
There was a scifi book series I read five years ago about a future where tech had evolved so much that anything could be 3d printed. This included food.
Basically everything was broken down into it's basic elements and could be printed. In the case of food it was amino acids, peptides, ect. The very wealthy would buy grown food, hand crafted textiles, ect. Everyone else had to use 3d printers.
For space exploration colonists would print almost everything once they were on a planet. This saved a lot of weight. Equipment would be set up to harvest molecular amounts of base elements to construct things like computers, weapons, ect. Whenever something was worn out it was recycled down to it's base elements.
The book series delt a lot with what was considered 'real'.
True. This was only for planets that were already habitable. Then again, as long as there was enough hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, water could be made. As for space travel - it's noted in the book that the most important resource is water. It's needed to make basically everything.
Oct 7, 24 5:01 pm ·
·
t a z
Out-of-this-world like Texas (if you'd like to volunteer to live in a prison of BIG's devising).
I don't see a need for it today, especially when we should be trying to get away from carbon-intensive building components, and concrete is one of the highest-emitting materials in construction. I do see some promise in this prototype house, built by my local university, the only one of its kind to use wood flour and PVA glue--no concrete--in the mix.
As a side note, they built it with the largest 3D printer in the world at the time (that was known to the public, anyway.) Now they have a much larger printer, which is again the largest in the world. I toured the facility earlier this year and it was impressive, to say the least. The house was a good first attempt but it's not ready for prime time yet.
at some point i imagine the combination of AI and robotics will make on-site robot assembly feasible, and obviate the use of 3D printing. If i had to guess, I'd say these site robots become more economically significant than 3D printing in the long run. Until you can automate a majority of works on site [not just structural walls] the utility is very limited.
Is there a future for 3D-printed structures?
Are any architects currently working on a 3D-printed project? - as a designer of environmental custom homes I'm interested in the construction detailing for the permit set - how is fenestration handled such as door and window bucks? - I also wonder how structural reinforcement, electrical races, plumbing, and piping is is detailed or addressed in the design process - do architects see this as a sustainable building technology future or is this process just a trending development?
no. It’s silly. This was a hot topic 20y ago when I was in school.
Agreed with NS. Total hogwash outside of academia. Ain't gonna happen in our lifetimes, at least not on our own planet.
Also agree with NS - has some use for crowd-sourced knowledge and biomaterials (The Emergence of Open Construction Systems: A Sustainable Paradigm in the Construction Sector? * Journal of Futures Studies (jfsdigital.org) and First 100% bio-based 3D-printed home unveiled at the University of Maine - UMaine News - University of Maine) but nothing really applicable for architects or in large scale projects , outside building models.
Not to be a dick andt it, I started in construction, but the required qualifications to be framing labour are "can you count to 24?," "do you own a hammer?," and "are you somewhat sober at the moment?
Meanwhile the 3D printing equipment requires a supervisor with a STEM degree, as well as the labour to keep things up and running (and they won't be up and running for very long on any construction site I've ever seen). And you can bet that the manufacturers of the printing equipment will require builders to only use their proprietary material, and you'll only be able to get them repaired by the same company, just like John Deere has been doing lately. It's a mess with no clear vision, and frankly it doesn't solve any problems whatsoever.
*Not to be a dick about it..."
Hard to imagine that 3D printing would ever be cheaper or easier than having a bunch of reprobates bang up a stick frame house in a couple days. Spoken as someone who spent a summer on a framing crew stoned out of my mind every day.
every 2x4 is straight as an arrow if the framer can't see straight to start.
I dunno - some of my arrows are a bit wonky.
Is that why I've not received my elk shares yet?
That and Texans.
CO is the last state the out of state people can get an over the counter tag for bowhunting elk. It's only in certain 'zones'. This was the last season that it's going to be allowed. After this out of state people have to put into a lottery to get an elk tag.
I must of saw two dozen Texas trucks out for the entire month in a last attempt to get an elk. Really put a lot of pressure on the elk.
Also I suck at hunting with wonky arrows.
seems to be early days still. Too soon to call it doa.
We used a robot to 3d print large PLA pieces for a project last year and it was sooo finicky that I will definitely think twice about trying that again. Looking at clay printers and concrete printers the setup looks less troublesome and it seems viable. I am friendly with a few of the architects making robot printed ceramic facades and other cool things and can see they have sorted out a lot of technical hurdles. So why not entire buildings?
The logistics and ability to tweak stuff on the fly is a sticking point. The skill level point is also pretty strong. On the other hand there is a shortage of skilled workers in Japan right now, leading construction companies to lean on robotic construction techniques. We will see a lot of that from now on, maybe not in the USA, but in other parts of the world for sure. In that case, as part of a new robotic ecosystem 3d printing may not be so out place
Then again, carpentry is a skilled profession in Japan, meaning the building culture is starting from a higher expectation of quality.
Not the same things but we are working on a few projects at the 2025 EXPO right now, mostly using CLT. The construction is pretty amazing once the foundation is in place. Very fast and logistically a great way to build since its all dry construction. When I was a student 20 years ago this kind of construction was still conceptual more than reality, and we didnt once study it seriously or talk about it in class. It is becoming pretty normal now though. 3d printing could follow the same path, as long as it solves a problem one way or another - logistics, people power, economics, time, design, or something else.
From what I can see so far most of the uncertainty about the technique is that it isn't really needed for any of the above. Mostly its just cool. But that doesnt mean its not worth doing and wont go anywhere.
Probably not on this earth. maybe somewhere different.
Funny you bring that up JCL-1.
There was a scifi book series I read five years ago about a future where tech had evolved so much that anything could be 3d printed. This included food.
Basically everything was broken down into it's basic elements and could be printed. In the case of food it was amino acids, peptides, ect. The very wealthy would buy grown food, hand crafted textiles, ect. Everyone else had to use 3d printers.
For space exploration colonists would print almost everything once they were on a planet. This saved a lot of weight. Equipment would be set up to harvest molecular amounts of base elements to construct things like computers, weapons, ect. Whenever something was worn out it was recycled down to it's base elements.
The book series delt a lot with what was considered 'real'.
the only flaw in this is the moisturizer for the mix, as there is no water in a planet with no atmosphere.
True. This was only for planets that were already habitable. Then again, as long as there was enough hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, water could be made. As for space travel - it's noted in the book that the most important resource is water. It's needed to make basically everything.
Out-of-this-world like Texas (if you'd like to volunteer to live in a prison of BIG's devising).
CHAPEA - NASA
One is scifi, one is Texas. I'll stick with scifi.
I don't see a need for it today, especially when we should be trying to get away from carbon-intensive building components, and concrete is one of the highest-emitting materials in construction. I do see some promise in this prototype house, built by my local university, the only one of its kind to use wood flour and PVA glue--no concrete--in the mix.
https://composites.umaine.edu/...
As a side note, they built it with the largest 3D printer in the world at the time (that was known to the public, anyway.) Now they have a much larger printer, which is again the largest in the world. I toured the facility earlier this year and it was impressive, to say the least. The house was a good first attempt but it's not ready for prime time yet.
at some point i imagine the combination of AI and robotics will make on-site robot assembly feasible, and obviate the use of 3D printing. If i had to guess, I'd say these site robots become more economically significant than 3D printing in the long run. Until you can automate a majority of works on site [not just structural walls] the utility is very limited.
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