3D-printed homes can combine design, functionality, low costs and environmental concerns. Is 3D printing in construction the go-to technology of the future?

Recently, the first fully 3D-printed house was unveiled in the town of Beckum, in northwestern Germany. The two-story residence, offering 160 square meters (1,722 square feet) of living space, is a project that was co-funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

3D printing could be likened to icing a cake. The printer, held by a robotic arm, prints the material layer by layer, and leaves spaces where doors or windows are supposed to be attached. This printing in layers allows architects a lot of flexibility in design as well as their choice of materials for building a structure.

“The special thing is that we, as planners, have a lot more freedom with the concrete printer,” Waldemar Korte, the architect whose company designed the structure, told German public broadcaster WDR. “We can really play around with the form.”

Creativity with a conscience

Also made with 3D printers, the Italian architects’ sustainable houses TECLA are made of clay. Built in Massa Lombarda, near Bologna in Italy, these habitats were designed by the Italian company WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project) and Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA).

TECLA — an acronym for technology and clay — structures are built entirely from local raw earth, according to WASP.

The project is inspired by author Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel, Invisible Cities, which is a series of conversations between Marco Polo and the Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan. TECLA refers to the word “Thekla” that Calvino uses in his novel to describe a city that is always under construction.

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