If all goes well and the pandemic does not intervene, the world’s first school will open in December 2021, 3D-printed instead of the traditional stone, mortar, or concrete materials. Moreover, the school is not built in a rich country, but in Madagascar, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Cheap and efficient
The idea was not implemented by locals, but by Maggie Grote from Colorado, who founded a startup called Thinking Huts at the age of fifteen. Six years later, he and his partners Hyperion Robotics in Finland and an international company called Studio Mortazavi embarked on the school building project. The three companies aim to make education more accessible In this poor countryThe cheapest way to do this is with a 3D printed school building.
In Madagascar, by the way, this issue is also vital because the coronavirus epidemic is making the education situation worse in an already poor country. While nearly 1.2 billion children worldwide have undergone a major change in their education as a result of the virus, 260 million children are not getting any education – and Madagascar is one of the most disadvantaged countries.
On the other hand, due to the relatively stable political situation, slow but developing economy and local renewable energies, Thinking Huts Madagascar is ideal for school 3D printing.
Beehive shape
The school building is planned to be shaped like a beehive so that it can be expanded more easily, and an extrusion based printer will be used to print the various parts. Certain parts of the school will be constructed in the traditional way, from local materials.
Thinking Huts also teaches locals how to use 3D printers to print to different buildings or even additional schools. According to the company, the technology is otherwise beneficial because it takes a short time to make, and the mixture of 3D-printed products is completely resistant to environmental impacts and emits less carbon dioxide than if concrete were used.
