3D home printing has matured enough as a technology to be viable. Yet despite the global housing shortage, chronic to so many countries, has yet to take off. Here the $37,600 price includes finished rooms inside. The company is aiming to build on cheap land in Japan’s smaller cities. They specifically mention targeting remote and work-from-home workers as customers.
This way of doing things could work for 10’s of millions of other people around the world, especially as starter homes. The pandemic accelerated a permanent shift to WFH for many people. If some of them had a choice between never being able to afford a home in big cities, but but getting on the property ladder with this option, it seems obvious to me millions of people around the world would choose it.
No, they aren’t that cheap and no, they won’t solve any current housing issues.
But I’m not an expert, so here is a longer explanation by Belinda Carr on the topic.
The USA has a much different paradigm to housing than Japan. There’s good reasons that some of those drawbacks might matter less outside of North America.
The reliance on concrete instead of some other pourable material is not a permanent problem in my opinion.
Prefab is also getting better and better.
They aren’t solving issues right now because construction methods aren’t part of the problem. It’s neat, like PLA 3d printing used to be neat. Now these pla printers are being used for prototyping, repairs, hobbies, and prop production.