3D Housing 05 – The democratic future of housing

Forget never-ending building sites, years of mortgages for the purchasing of a house, and inaccessible sums of money for restructuring. No, it’s not a dream, it could be an imminent reality. Giving us a preview of this realistic scenario on the theme of housing is the architect Massimiliano Locatelli, who, on the occasion of the 2018 Milan Design Week, has proposed 3D Housing 05, a prototype of a house printed on-site with a 3D machine, the first of its kind in Europe.

Made in collaboration with Italcementi, Arub and Cybe, the home, composed of a blend of cements, is, to all intents and purposes, a real apartment, located in Piazza Beccaria in Milan. 
The external aspect of the construction is the result of the setting down of various layers by the Cybe printer, which works like any 3D printer: the striped finish highlights the ties the home has with materiality, the brass fixtures lend elegance to the design, and the roof/vegetable garden increases warmth. The interiors are furnished with items from the Nilufar gallery, designed by Locatelli.

Structurally, the home is earthquake proof, the walls are provided with a cavity to house insulation and systems, and it can be expanded both laterally and in height.
The 5 “pilotis” on which 3D Housing 05 is based are ready to demolish the old pillars of architecture: creativity; sustainability; flexibility; affordability; rapidity.  It is on these terms that the revolutionary aspect of the project is based. A home that can be modelled as desired, that can be constructed with a blend of cements (recycling from its own demolition), which can be easily transported, which is economical and quick to build, offers hundreds of possible applications which are democratic in nature. It is inevitable that it provokes thought on housing emergencies, in the case of calamities, and to the visionary installations of artists and architects, and suddenly the future of Black Mirror does not seem so far away.