DUS Architects Unveils Plans to 3D Print an Entire House in Amsterdam

<a href="http://www.dusarchitects.com/index.php" target="_blank">DUS Architects</a> just announced plans to push <a href="http://inhabitat.com/uc-berkeleys-dreambox-3d-printer-vending-machine-dispenses-your-designs-before-your-eyes/" target="_blank">3D printer</a> technology to the limits by printing an entire house in Amsterdam! The design team will use a gigantic printer called the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/pics-dus-architects-unveils-worlds-first-movable-3d-printing-pavilion-in-amsterdam/km_opening08_lowres/" target="_blank">KamerMaker</a> to print a canal house right on-site. DUS plans to print the façade and the first room by the end of 2013, putting them on track to producing the world's first 3D-printed house.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/pics-dus-architects-unveils-worlds-first-movable-3d-printing-pavilion-in-amsterdam/km_opening08_lowres/" target="_blank">KamerMaker</a>, or room maker, is an eleven-and-a-half-foot <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nanoscribe-unveils-the-worlds-fastest-nano-scale-3d-printer/" target="_blank">custom 3D printer</a> created by DUS that is housed inside of a disused shipping container.

DUS plans to use the large scale printer to print the canal house bit by bit, first testing the design on a small scale model that is one twentieth the size of the proposed home.

DUS chose a developing area just north of Amsterdam as the home for the canal house. Fittingly, once completed the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/skylar-tibbits-introduces-the-concept-of-self-assembling-4d-printing/" target="_blank">3D printed</a> canal house will serve as a hub for 3D-printed architecture research.

The site will also serve as an event and educational space that invites visitors inside to learn about different kinds of 3D printers.

Another room made from shredded plastic bottles will be dedicated to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/marcus-thymarks-open-source-filamaker-shreds-and-recycles-plastic-for-3d-printing/" target="_blank">3D printing with recycled materials</a>.

Even if DUS Architects’ canal house isn’t finished in time to be the world's first 3D-printed structure (it's currently racing against entries from <a href="http://inhabitat.com/cantilevering-protohouse-is-a-fibrous-3d-printed-home-waterproofed-on-the-inside/">Softkill Design</a> and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/dutch-architects-to-build-endless-mobius-inspired-house-using-giant-3d-printer/">Universe Architecture</a>), the innovative project will be an important center for research on 3D-printed architecture.