One of the world’s first 3D printed houses went up in China in 2016. Similar houses have popped up in other parts of the world, including Russia, the US, Italy, and even an entire community of 3D printed homes in Mexico. Not to be outshined by its predecessors, Prvok, as the house has been christened, even boasts a few extra-cool features: it has a green roof, it’s built to last over 100 years, and it can float. Granted, 100 years isn’t an extraordinarily long lifespan for a house; there are plenty of them that have been around for that long, and have decades of life ahead of them. If you consider the speed with which 3D printed houses go up and the simplicity of their construction and materials, it’s a pretty cool build-time-to-longevity ratio. 3D printed houses do have their own drawbacks; they’re most practical in rural areas with low population density, but the world’s biggest need for affordable, safe housing is in or near big cities. On the plus side it seems the Czech project has just overcome one big barrier for 3D printed houses: they’re no longer exclusively confined to land.

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