Part of our issue in addressing the US housing shortage is the real estate industry’s ability to efficiently and affordably build new inventory. To this end, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hosted its fourth annual Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall in Washington D.C. last week. The 40 exhibitors included companies like Azure Printed Homes, Mighty Buildings, and Reframe Systems – all of which build or 3D print homes with robotic assistance.
Also present? NASA, with a “lunar foundation surface habitat” prototype that would enable astronauts to stay short stints on the moon’s surface.
The prototype featured in DC last week more resembled a bouncy castle than an ICON-original design. But, it does bring to mind thought provoking questions related to the role of governmental R&D dollars that have led to barcodes, LED lights, the internet, and touchscreens (hence, modern smartphones).
Some argue that the last great financial innovation in the housing industry was the expansion of the 30-year mortgage after WWII, while others might say the widespread adoption of prefabricated roof trusses in the 1960s were the last large-scale construction innovation. Yet, where large-scale government funding flows, innovations often follow. While NASA’s budget is nowhere near the size of other government departments, the housing, infrastructure, and environmental challenges they must design for (read: none, none, and temperatures from -208 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit) will severely test the limits of building materials and design. I’m willing to bet that this next age of space exploration and dare I say, space living, will usher in much-needed new ways of thinking about materials and design that will shape the housing industry everywhere from earth to infinity and beyond.