PROJECT HOME – Review by Lois Alter Mark
The idea that printing 3D houses could be a viable solution to the global housing crisis sounds like something straight out of a science fiction novel. I mean, how do you use a printer to create houses that are actually livable?
Well, if you’re filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson, you ask the innovators who are doing just that. And you introduce us to the people who are actually living in those houses.
It’s “mind boggling,” admits someone in Project Home, her new documentary on the subject, but, hey, as one of the builders reminds us, “Everyone thought Henry Ford was crazy.”
Project Home dives deep into the groundbreaking partnerships between non-profit housing organizations like Habitat for Humanity and tech start-ups focused on 3D printing. The result is absolutely fascinating.
Here are some numbers: Globally, 1.6 billion people are inadequately housed. In Los Angeles alone, more than 60,000 people are homeless. In 2019, 3D printed construction was a $3 million industry. In 2024, it’s expected to be about $1.5 billion. It not only makes sense to combine these sectors and use 3D printing to build affordable housing; it’s brilliant.
Project Home follows two single mothers who are waiting to buy their first homes, thanks to this technology. Both work excruciatingly long days in addition to taking care of their children yet would have no other way to ever own their own home. One is working with New Story and Icon, who are building a community of 3D printed houses in a small, impoverished town in Mexico. The other is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, the world’s largest non-profit home builder.
I can’t explain the technology – it’s described as concrete flowing out of tubes like toothpaste – but I can tell you that watching these women’s faces when they’re finally handed keys to their own houses is worth everything. It’s very emotional and empowering and will give you hope for the future.
Of course, none of this happens easily. During the process, Mexico is hit with a category 5 hurricane and the world experiences a global pandemic. Nevertheless, they persist and, although it takes years to finish, they do.
Project Home also includes the voices of critics who warn that the 3D printing industry isn’t regulated, that there are likely to be scammers and that there are additional costs involved after the frame is built. That’s all true – this industry is in its infancy, after all – but the technology is there and so is the potential for improving people’s lives.
What makes this even more exciting and impactful is the fact that, for once, it’s not the wealthy who get to take advantage of the newest technology. It’s the people who are making less than $10 a day – the people who truly need it most – who will benefit from this. This goal of using technology for good feels so extraordinary when, really, shouldn’t it be the norm?
By documenting these early efforts, I believe Project Home will inspire others and will serve as a blueprint for addressing the housing crisis around the world. One day, 3D houses are likely to be as commonplace as the cars Henry Ford was laughed at for making. And this documentary will be celebrated for showing the impact of using the power of art to do good.
