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3D Printing The Next Five Years by Mariana Duarte, InovaHouse3D

This is a guest post in our series looking at the future of 3D Printing. To celebrate 5 years of reporting on the 3D printing industry, we’ve invited industry leaders and 3D printing experts to give us their perspective and predictions for the next 5 years and insight into trends in additive manufacturing.

Mariana Duarte is the director of product design at InovaHouse3D, a company based in Brazil working on methods to 3D print houses.

The future of 3D printing, Mariana Duarte

3D printing technology has been changing the way people think, design and produce over the past years. The technique is applicable to a broad range of areas, from prototyping objects to making prosthesis for medical use. Recently, this technology has attempted to modify and improve the current construction method, by inserting newly developed materials as an option to traditional ones and also by automating and bringing efficiency to the way we build our houses.

What is our role?

Following the trend of other parts of the world, Inovahouse3D is developing its very own additive manufacturing technology for use in construction. We hope to have a ready to use 3D printer, capable of printing in concrete in a year. We intend for our machine to make progress in the Brazilian construction process, by turning it into an inexpensive, faster, more sustainable, less wasting industry.

InovaHouse3D's machine prototype
InovaHouse3D’s machine prototype

This would provide great progress to an industry which suffers from antiquated methods that make it difficult for innovative ideas to come forth. Also, it would make possible to have more houses built in less time, since the need for work force is not as big and the time of building is much quicker.

We are also developing a construction material compatible with Brazilian’s most commonly used ones and with 3D printing. We aim to provide the industry with a more sustainable material, that can reuse waste and recyclables in its composition. We believe that one of 3D printing duties is to deliver a solution to waste reduction and, consequently, brake climate change.

Our current challenges

Certainly, one of the biggest challenges is to implement the technology as a regular construction method, because printed houses and buildings need to be proved safe, resistant and adequate for living. However, once the technology becomes legalized and inserted in the market, it will provide innumerous benefits.

It can make it possible for people who cannot purchase their own houses to have a home. The technology can be used to rebuild cities that were devastated by war or natural disasters in a shorter period of time, using less money, and it can also reuse the waste generated in the harmed city, transforming it into construction material.

InovaHouse3D's CEO, Juliana Martinelli, speaking at a conference at the Brazilian Civil Construction Chamber
InovaHouse3D’s CEO, Juliana Martinelli, speaking at a conference at the Brazilian Civil Construction Chamber

What can we achieve with this technology?

Unconventional buildings, freedom of formats, curves, innovative designs and personalized creations are some of the features that 3D printing can bring to construction in the near future as well. This will provide our cities with a different concept on what is modern, functional and beautiful.

 

A render of housing blocks as they will be 3D printed by the InovaHouse3D machine
A render of housing blocks as they will be 3D printed by the InovaHouse3D machine

Applying 3D printing in the building industry can also bring to light the possibility of inserting that technology in other businesses that are just as traditional. We believe this is the future of construction and we believe 3D printing is the future of most industries in the world.

This is a guest post in our series looking at the future of 3D Printing, if you’d like to participate in this series then contact us for more information. For more insights into the 3D printing industry, sign up to our newsletter and follow our active social media channels.

Don’t forget that you can vote now in the 1st annual 3D Printing Industry Awards.

More information about InovaHouse3D is available here.

Featured image shows Mariana Duarte, director of product design at InovaHouse3D

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