{"id":9473,"date":"2018-09-07T01:02:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T01:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=9473"},"modified":"2019-09-03T09:13:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T09:13:30","slug":"lotus-house-3d-printed-solar-china-070920184","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/lotus-house-3d-printed-solar-china-070920184\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotus House; the 3D printed solar house"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Solar Decathlon China 2018 competition, students designed and built a 3D printed solar house called the Lotus House.\u00a0 The Chinese symbol of purity, the lotus flower, inspired this house designed to achieve optimum energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

The main objective of the Solar Decathlon China 2018 competition is to build a one- or two-story solar house containing all the necessary household appliances.\u00a0Organised this time in Dezhou, it brings together several students who imagine an energy-efficient housing prototype. This year, a project stood out because of its use of 3D technologies.\u00a0The Lotus House joins the many architectural initiatives that combine\u00a03D printing and traditional methods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Lotus House from the sky<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n

Lotus House and new technologies<\/h3>\n

The team from the University of Washington is the origin of this 3D printed house of 198 m2. It was realised in 8 months, though still in the prototype stage for the time being.\u00a0Project Manager Kinga Pabjan explains, “We were inspired by the beauty, the delicacy and the cultural significance of the lotus.<\/em>\u00a0But we did not start with the lotus.\u00a0Our initial intention was to use emerging technologies, particularly additive manufacturing, to create an organic form.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

She goes on to say that 3D printing has allowed them to create a lighter and more environmentally friendly structure. The technology reduces the use of materials and therefore waste.\u00a0An advantage that particularly appealed to students given the initial objective of the competition.<\/p>

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The exterior of the house, composed of curved and superimposed panels, have been arranged around a central axis. In a manner similar to the petals of a blooming flower.\u00a0According to the team, these panels were made using 3D printed molds in which the concrete was poured and could be used at least 100 times. To compare a wooden formwork would only be able to be used 2 times.\u00a0In addition, the 3D printed molds produce less waste and offer more geometric complexity.<\/p>\n

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A table printed in 3D, inside the Lotus House<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n

The project manager concludes: “We wanted to challenge the possibilities of 3D printing and they are almost limitless!<\/em>” A construction method that could revolutionise the sector. Initiative to do so was taken in Austin, Texas earlier this year when its first\u00a03D printed house<\/a>\u00a0was build. This house, created specifically to show how concrete 3D printing can help developing countries build affordable housing, is believed to possibly help the 1.2 billion people worldwide without proper housing. Just last month in France, a social housing project opened up to its first family. When the family settled in to its new home, the first to do so in\u00a03D printed social housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The impression of the mussels of the Lotus House<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n

This circular Lotus house is for the moment only a prototype, and is not yet ready to accommodate residents.\u00a0But this is a good example of the possibilities that 3D technologies offer in\u00a0the architectural and construction sector<\/a>.\u00a0You can find more information on the\u00a0official website<\/a>\u00a0of the University of Washington.<\/p>\n

What do you think of the Lotus House?\u00a0Let us know in a comment below or on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages! And remember to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>, to get all the latest news in 3D printing send straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the Solar Decathlon China 2018 competition, students designed and built a 3D printed solar house called the Lotus House.\u00a0 The Chinese symbol of purity, the lotus flower, inspired this house designed to achieve optimum energy efficiency. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6060,"featured_media":9475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9473"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15986,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9473\/revisions\/15986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}