A different dimension

If 3D printing technology can print blood vessels and pizza, it should perhaps come as little surprise that it can also handle homes. But that doesn’t make a development from a Chinese building company any less cool.

Suzhou-based WinSun constructed 10 houses from parts made in a giant 3D printer — 6.7 metres tall and 10 metres wide, — all in less than a day. The small homes cost less than $5,000 each, half the price of homes built using traditional methods, and the component parts are primarily recycled cement and glass.

WinSun plans to make future houses from construction scraps, according to The Wall Street Journal. The implications are significant for developing countries.