Foundation for a Home
Intiative 99 Project
Mason M. | Henry A.
Our submission is the result of a 6 month long collaborative effort to design a 3D printable housing development offering units in the range of $100k USD. Creating sustainable housing using ICON’s newly developed technology presented an exciting challenge to combine our knowledge and tackle an issue that is all too relevant in modern life; the housing crisis.
Intiative 99 Project
Mason M. | Henry A.
Our submission is the result of a 6 month long collaborative effort to design a 3D printable housing development offering units in the range of $100k USD. Creating sustainable housing using ICON’s newly developed technology presented an exciting challenge to combine our knowledge and tackle an issue that is all too relevant in modern life; the housing crisis.
Manifesto
This project opens with our protagonist; the new to market, foreign to all, and massive, 3D
printer. 38’ x 100’ is big enough to confuse anyone as to what exactly this machine can do, as
it should. No generative construction tool has been created like this in our lifetime, and its
invention carries great potential as a tool to help combat the housing shortage we have been
facing since the early 20th century. In approaching the problem, it must be considered that the
construction industry is one of the largest polluters on the planet, and concrete is responsible
for more than 8% of global emissions. Therefore, we have partnered with Terra CO2, one of the
industry’s leading innovators in the chemical composition of cement, who are on the forefront
of mass-producing sustainable concrete around the world. The combination of ICON’s
innovative technology and a sustainable material allows for density and sustainability
objectives to be reached.
The introduction of a new tool that can build faster, allows us to fundamentally re-innovate
prefabrication in the building industry. It can produce 24/7, create with virtually no errors, and
can allow us to forecast certain design qualities ahead of time, a factor the construction
industry has struggled with for a long time. A tool that can build faster however, is not the
solution to the housing crisis. Pre-fabrication is not a new concept, and is only a single variable
in the complicated equation of providing affordable homes to people that can no longer afford
the existing market. Homelessness has skyrocketed, mass social-isolation has led to a
crippling mental health epidemic, and physical (in-person) communities have dwindled. We
intend not only to provide shelter, but to re-define the foundation of the modern, pre-fabricated,
affordable home. As well as the social, financial, and physical requirements that come with
providing affordable ‘homes', rather than 'housing’. This approach is best viewed from a
top-down perspective, that encompasses the interconnection of a multitude of demographics,
and providing them with available space that varies on a private to public spectrum. That
spectrum being defined by physical divisions or lack thereof, created by a 21st century wall
printer.
The primary goals of this project are to firstly, sustain continuous growth amongst the people
that decide to live in this development by creating extension spaces that can be built out over
time. Secondly, provide a spectrum of shared amenities and activity spaces that will decrease
costs and catalyze interaction. And most importantly, to design a project that invites a variety
of desirable, medium-density spaces that promote agency for each individual's space.
Site model, 1:300
Project developed in collaboration with Mason McIntosh for ICON’s Iniative 99 competition, 2023.