Home of Hope V.1

Home of Hope is a prototype of modular mass-customization, serving a humanitarian need for impoverished families in Armenia.  Harnessing the software-to-fabrication pipeline of the FrameCAD machine, Form Found Design led an international team to build a custom house, print each stud and track, and assembled the frame in only three days in Armenia.

Every stud and track is custom cut, labeled, and punched so there is no cutting or waste on-site. The software generates assembly drawings in the form of cut sheets that workers can reference as they assemble the walls, floors, and roof trusses. A team of international consultants was assembled to deliver this project including students from both Orange Coast College and Armenia,  a FrameCAD consultant in Melbourne Australia called Csteel and a fabricator in Romania called Antioch Investment SRL.  Walter P Moore provided engineering consultation and Simpson Strongtie donated all metal brackets. The house is equipped with Solar Panels as well as Solar Hot water Heating to serve the family of five.

Home of Hope is the first of its kind in Armenia as more homes are planned for the coming years by the Armenian Relief and Development Association to eliminate shanty homes from the countryside. A vernacular design language was used to express the two primary roof gables, reminiscent of Historic Armenia’s two famous mountains, Ararat and Masis.