SF-based startup Apis Cor has pioneered a 3-D printing "crane" that is capable of pouring concrete walls for an entire 400-square-foot home in 24 hours. They just completed their first house at a testing facility in Stupino town in Russia, near Moscow, and have now released a video documenting the process. As Endgadget explains, "Workers [then] had to manually paint it and install the roofing materials, wiring, [windows,] hydro-acoustic and thermal insulation, but that didn't take much time." And, all told, this entire project only cost $10,134, and the house is expected to last for 175 years.

As you can see in the video above, the house is sort of circular in shape with a couple of little "wings," and this is partly because the crane can only operate in arc configurations, laying layer upon layer of concrete (see below).


As Quartz notes, one possible application for the technology would be the quick and cheap rebuilding of residential areas devastated by a natural disaster, allowing people to be rehoused almost immediately given that land were available.

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