News Brief: 3-D Printed Houses Are Closer Than You Think.

“Imagine you can construct a house using a 3-D printer. With the site-specific adaptable 3-D printer you just might. The printer is designed by Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa, associate professor in NYIT School of Architecture and Design, and a team of architects at e(eiroa)-Architects.
The unique aspect about the printer is that it does not depend on an external structure in order to use it. And unlike traditional 3-D printers, this one can go anywhere.

“It is a mobile structure and can be adapted to many circumstances and conditions,” said Lorenzo-Eiroa. “Since it [is built] with cables and engines that can be attached to an existing condition and operate, it can be packed into a portable suitcase.” Which is what he did when he took it to Venice where it is on display at the Time-Space-Existence exhibit during the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The site-specific adaptable 3-D printer features a flexible tensegrity structure with a robotic cable-driven mechanism that prints through an extendable arm reaching all locations inside its range. Because it can be easily adapted, the possibilities are virtually endless. “Our [printer] can be used anywhere—inside, outside—and it can be used to build furniture and buildings like houses and even larger party wall buildings,” explained Lorenzo-Eiroa.

Excerpt from By Bessie Nestoras Knoblauch, The BOX, NYIT

Original post: The BOX