A new project in Madagascar is using 3D printing to create new schools. Non-profit organization Thinking Huts has partnered with architectural design agency Studio Mortazavi to create the world’s first 3D-printed school on the campus of a university in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar. According to We Forum, the project aims to tackle the shortage of educational infrastructure.
Using technology developed by Finnish company Hyperion Robotics, the school will be built using 3D-printed walls and locally-sourced materials for the doors, roof, and windows. Members of the local community will then be taught how to replicate the process to build schools for the future.
In this way, a new school can be built in under a week, and with less of an environmental cost than traditional concrete-based construction. The 3D-printed buildings use less concrete than other methods, and the cement mixture also emits less carbon dioxide.
The design allows for individual pods to be joined together in a beehive-like structure, and means schools can be easily expanded.
