In an unassuming part of Southern Mexico community, the world’s first 3-D printed neighborhood has emerged. Created by nonprofit New Story, the affordable dwellings have a pleasant, southwest look and feel, and are around 500 square-feet apiece. The process of printing these homes 🏠 includes a lot of planning and testing, and the use of a state-of-the-art machine called the Vulcan II, made by Icon. The whole idea behind 3D-printed homes is that you can build them faster, cheaper, and more accurately than traditionally-built ones.

This poor community was living in shack-like dwellings before the project, and the upgraded homes may seem modest, but are a huge improvement from both a livability and seismic standpoint. For families living on $3 per day, being part of this first-in-the-world project is a major milestone, and one that the New Story founders were especially proud of. “Innovation rarely reaches those who need it most first” is a slogan that the company used for this project. Here’s hoping more pioneering projects like this one come into being. Very inspirational stuff, via Fast Company:

“We feel like we’ve proved what’s possible by bringing this machine down to a rural area in Mexico, in a seismic zone, and successfully printing these first few houses,” says Brett Hagler, CEO and cofounder of New Story.

The printer works by squirting a concrete mixture in layers to build floors and walls. Software monitors the weather conditions, and the machine can adjust the mixture.

• Fast Company

“Innovation rarely reaches those who need it most first”