The House That Hype Built

3D-printed houses were supposed to make construction faster, cheaper, and nearly waste-free—so why are there still so few of them? Drawing on a MegaProjects video essay, this episode examines how the proposed technological answer to a deepening housing crisis collided with concrete chemistry, poor insulation, skilled-labor requirements, regulatory uncertainty, and the unforgiving realities of building outdoors. Follow the story from a house demolished after cracking in the Iowa heat to a disastrous Illinois development involving a lost deposit, an abandoned duplex, and a mysteriously missing printer. Then travel to earthquake-prone Japan, where rigorous engineering produced a code-compliant, two-story printed home inspired by the strength of natural caves. Are regulations holding this technology back—or are strict standards exactly what it needs to finally deliver on its promise?