The solution to solving the world’s housing problem may have just been unveiled in Austin, Texas.
In order to aid the 1.2 billion city dwellers around the world who do not have access to affordable housing, non-profit New Story and construction technology firm Icon have teamed up to create a 3-D printer that can quickly produce a quality home for a reasonable price.
Dubbed the Vulcan, the printer can currently print a 350-square-foot home in 48 hours at a cost of about $10,000, but ICON and New Story are hoping to tweak their tech enough so they’ll eventually be able to offer an 800-square-foot home printed in about 24 hours for $4,000.
Unveiled at South by Southwest, ICON and New Story’s proof-of-concept model uses cement to improve sturdiness and has a living room, bedroom, bathroom and a porch.
While U.S. residents shouldn’t expect to see a Vulcan-printed home outside of Austin anytime soon (the companies will be starting to print houses in El Salvador to start), the printer does have the capacity to help people in the developing world sooner than later.
“It will take many years before 3-D-printed homes are printing the types of homes that you and I would live in, but the tech is ready now to print very high-quality, safe homes in the places we’re building,” New Story COO Alexandria Lafci told Wired.
Learn more about the project below:
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