Please turn your device to portrait.
Leading 3D printing firm Icon announces competition to revolutionise affordable housing.
Icon, a leading company in 3D printing, has announced an ambitious contest, called Initiative 99, with the goal of transforming affordable housing. (main pic: Example of a 3D printed home. image ICON.)
The competition invites designs for 3D-printed homes that can be built for less than US$99,000, with the finishing touches, such as windows, doors, and roofs added later by trades.
Icon is well-known for its Vulcan printer and has produced a variety of structures, including a NASA habitat and architect-designed homes. While the potential for 3D printers to create low-cost homes has been recognised for some time, the majority of 3D-printed housing projects are still priced at ‘conventional’ market rates.
Icon aims to change this with its new competition. Despite some notable successes in affordable 3D-printed housing, such as Icon’s Mexican housing and Apis Cor’s compact home, the technology has yet to take off in a major way.
“With Initiative 99, we are changing the way that we talk about affordable housing,” explained Icon CEO Jason Ballard in a press release. “When we talk about affordable housing, the conversation is often depressing and so are the results. Our goal is that Initiative 99 would in turn create the conditions for affordable housing to be something hopeful, optimistic and exciting, and furthermore catalyzes the building of some really incredible affordable homes that just years ago would not have even been possible. The future could be a wonder, but we have to all work together to make it so.”
Architects, including individual designers, firms, and university students, will be eligible to participate in the competition, which will start accepting registrations shortly.
The competition will run for about a year and will offer a total prize pool of USD$1 million, though it is unclear how many winners will be selected and how the prize money will be distributed.
Icon has announced its intention to construct a variety of the winning designs at different locations, which will be revealed in due course.
See: https://www.iconbuild.com/
Enter the competition: https://www.iconbuild.com/initiative-99
