Exploring the Potential of 3D Printing Construction to Address the Housing Crisis for South Sudanese Refugees  

South Sudan currently has the third largest refugee crisis around the globe, with over 3.7 million people being displaced from their homes due to ethnic and political civil war. Over 2 million of these refugees have been displaced from their home country, seeking asylum in refugee settlements that neighbor South Sudan.

One of the most important needs within these settlements is adequate housing. Through polling and census data, it has been found that more than half of the refugees are living in dilapidated housing conditions, without any resources to make repairs. The average amount of time spent within these settlements is over a decade and is increasingly getting worse as more refugees enter these settlements.

Due to the exponential technological advancements in 3D printing technology, using this form of construction could potentially address a situation within a refugee settlement. 3D printing technology could provide benefits due to its ability to produce housing units at a high rate, its ability to use clay aggregate soil as construction material, mimicking adobe brick housing found in Africa, and the ability to lower the need for labor within these settlements.

This thesis will explore the idea of employing this technology within a refugee settlement, to test if it can appropriately balance the implementation of a high tech 21st century technology with the historic and cultural vernacular architecture found regionally throughout Africa.