Can't Afford a House? You Can Always Live in This Tiny 3-D-Printed Apartment

I live in Los Angeles, one of the priciest real estate markets in the nation, so I’ve accepted that owning a home might not be in my future. A 1,570-square-foot condo up the street from me is on the market for $730,000. But I’m not sure I want to live in a 50-square-foot 3-D-printed mobile apartment either.

That’s the concept behind a prototype from 3M FutureLAB, a UCLA-affiliated architecture project. The mini residence, which is created from a mixture of sand and glue, is the result of a challenge from architect and professor Peter Ebner.

Over the past few years tiny houses have skyrocketed in popularity. Some of the ideas veer to the bizarre—a shopping cart house, anyone? But given the need for sustainable and affordable living solutions in densely packed urban areas, the spirit behind them is sound. According to InteriorHolic, Ebner asked graduate students to create practical mini housing solutions that are mobile and match the active lifestyles of Millennials.

The compact apartment, which comes in a slick black finish, packs together a diminutive kitchen and bathroom—the hidden toilet morphs into a kitchen counter. Meanwhile, the loft bed doubles as a living room. There’s a projection screen on the wall across from the bed/sofa so you can watch a movie while you recline. A petite window allows in some sunshine, so you don’t get too claustrophobic.

What makes this house unique, however, is that the entire structure is fabricated using a 3-D printer: The electric, heating, and sewage systems, as well as the mattress on the bed, are all constructed through the technology.

Will these livable sand “castles” make it past the prototype stage? A Chinese company thinks they’re perfect for 25- to 35-year-olds and plans to print several hundred in the next two years.