What is Printahouse?

First and foremost, it’s a bad name for a really interesting idea.

Most great ideas come from interesting questions. And my idea began as this:

Why can’t we 3D print shelters for the world’s poor, on-site using the garbage that is accessible in their region?

I think the answer is: we can.

So I’m setting out on a 2-year journey to 3D print a house from recycled plastic in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico.

This project, at a high level, consists of:

• Learning more about 3D printing. While I’ve dabbled in 3D printing before, this project is going to required that I dramatically deepen my knowledge of the technology.

• Designing a safe, efficient, livable, durable, home printed in one pass using 3D printing technology.

• Designing and implementing a 3D printer large enough to print a house of roughly 120 square feet.

• Figuring out how to make the 3D printer transportable so that we can not just get it to Mexico, but move it from location to location once we get it there.

This is not a simple task and I’m sure the cynics in the crowd can give me a million reasons why this won’t work. But the world doesn’t need any more cynics. We need more doers, more problem solvers, more people with big ideas willing to try them. So if that’s you and you want to get involved, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or via email.