bjarke ingels group teams with ICON to build accessible 3D printed architecture

ICON, the robotics lab which has built the first permitted 3D printed home in america, teams up with bjarke ingels group / BIG to push forward the use of 3D printing in architecture. the team at ICON has long sought to re-imagine construction and homebuilding in a way that is affordable, so that dignified housing is available to all across the world. the completed ‘chicon house’ in austin, texas served to prove the concept in march 2018, bringing the team, investors, and customers together to drive toward the future. bjarke ingels comments: ‘additive manufacturing will play a transformative role in the future of construction.‘

chicon house in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

bjarke ingels group / BIG now supports the team at ICON, joining a larger group of investors in 3D printed homes, commenting: ‘with ICON we are pioneering new frontiers — both materially, technologically and environmentally — so putting some skin in the game became inevitable.’ ICON had introduced its chicon house in austin, texas with new story, a non-profit working to create a world where no human being lives in survival mode. ICON and new story are working to print the first community of homes for underserved families in latin america in the coming 18 months. through the partnership with bjarke ingels group / BIG, the group will scale up production to serve additional communities over the next few years.

chicon house in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

now partnering up with bjarke ingels group, ICON makes use of a 3D printer called ‘the vulcan,’ designed to work under less-than-ideal conditions. the printer can operate in places like haiti and rural el salvador where power can be unpredictable, potable water is not a guarantee and technical assistance is sparse. it is designed to tackle housing shortages for vulnerable populations instead of building with profit motivation. the portable printer is designed to function with near-zero waste. 

chicon house in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

commenting further on the venture with ICON, bjarke ingels continues: ‘regardless of how digital the documentation has become, designs still get built practically the same way as always. robotic manufacturing will enable us to eliminate the loss in translation from data to matter and allow us to fabricate homes at great speed, with less waste, and with higher accuracy than today.’

chicon house in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

chicon house in austin, texas
image by casey dunn

chicon house in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

community first village in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

community first village in austin, texas
image by regan morton photography

‘mexico project’ by new story and ICON
image by joshua perez

‘mexico project’ by new story and ICON
image by joshua perez

‘the vulcan’ printing process
image by regan morton photography

‘the vulcan’ printing process detail
image by regan morton photography