To believe in miracles again after losing everything. Owner of the first 3D house in Ukraine
There is a lot of bustle outside the unusually rounded house: lots of cars and people. More than a week has passed since the family of the deceased Yaroslav Berezov was handed the keys to the housing. But the attention hasn't stopped: there is a constant stream of journalists, partners, and engineers.
A woman gets lost in the midst of the hustle and bustle. She hesitantly asks if she can put her things down or if she can come in.
“They haven't let us in yet, they're still filming,” Natalia says, smiling.
One of the project partners brings her flowers and congratulates her. But she doesn't seem to feel like a hostess here yet. For now, she feels more comfortable in her husband's unfinished summer kitchen, which stands opposite the new house. That's where we talk.
“My daughters and I can’t wait to move in. But let everyone see it, let everyone touch it. Because, honestly, we haven't touched it ourselves yet. It's as if it's happening not with us. It's still hard to believe that this is a reality and that this can happen. No one has ever helped us...” says Natalia Berezova.
The only thing left of their two-story house near Irpin, which her husband built himself, was ashes. By some miracle, as Natalia herself says, her family was chosen for a unique charity project — the construction of the first house in Ukraine using a 3D printer.
Honey, our house is destroyed
The house, where the family had lived for only a year, turned into ruins in the first days of the occupation of Irpin. All their possessions, along with the memories in every corner, turned to ashes. However, Natalia did not cry then. The main thing, she says, is that everyone survived.
“I didn't care about the house anymore. There was only one thing in my mind: ‘The most important is that we are alive’,” the woman recalls.
The night of March 4, 2022, was the worst for her. Russians were breaking through to Irpin from their side — near Mykhailivka-Rubezhivka. There were columns of tanks and infantry. They could hear fighting near the house. Inside, two girls were shaking with fear. Their parents went to the city in the hope of finding some food. It was too dangerous to return. But Yaroslav hurried to their daughters.
There was shooting here. We were sitting in the cellar and heard whistling, gunfire, and we covered our ears and opened our mouths to avoid being shell-shocked. We could hear the Kadyrovites running around somewhere very close. And my dad was coordinating the Territorial Defense fighters from the cellar when he caught the connection: “To the right, boys, to the left, launch!”.Anna, daughter of Yaroslav Berezov
Ania, the eldest daughter, who was 24 at the time, recalls that the military said that only girls had a chance to get out of there — to walk with their hands up. But they refused to leave without their father. In the end, in the morning, at his own risk, he took off in a minibus from the yard. Anшa cried into the phone talking to her mother: she was sure it was the last time they would speak. But in a few minutes they were together in Irpin.
However, not for long. Yaroslav immediately went to the Territorial Defense, having sent his family to Khmelnytskyi region.
When we were leaving, Yaryk said: “Honey, our house is destroyed. But don't worry, we'll rebuild it, everything will be fine, just don't worry.”Natalia, wife of Yaroslav Berezov
Natalia did not worry about it and did not cry. She just waited for a “plus” or a text message from her husband. She cried only when she did not receive the coveted “plus”. Yaryk died near Bakhmut on November 7, 2022.
“They offered me a 3D house, and I stood there and looked at them indifferently”
Since then, everything has faded for her. They were crammed into her mother's apartment for a while. There was neither the desire nor the ability to apply for help or “eVidnovlennia”. The house was not legally registered. There was not even enough money to demolish it: about 100 thousand hryvnias were needed.
“The guys came to help. Yaryk had a lot of friends. Although many of them are gone now... They gave my a phone number of a volunteer. And she asked why I hadn't contacted them before. ‘Honestly? I don’t care,’ I said, ‘it's the guys who are making a fuss’.”
I was told that they wanted to talk to me. They wanted to print a 3D house... And I was like: “What?”. Later, the deputy mayor told me: “Natasha, what’s the problem? People are offering you such things, and you're standing there looking at them indifferently.” I was completely indifferent to life.Natalia Berezova, for whom philanthropists built a 3D house
Philanthropist Inna Furman came up with the idea to build the first 3D house for one of the affected families. Participants were chosen from among 30 families. When Inna met Natalia, she was touched.
“Natalia really had big problems with her documents. I realized that everyone else at least had the opportunity to receive compensation. At first, the girls were suspicious: some fund, some house would be printed... They thought the officials would come and tell them they would help, but in fact they would not,” Inna recalls.
It took almost a year and a half from the idea to the completion of the project. Eventually, Natalia recovered a bit.
“Well, I guess I have to live a little longer. Because I haven't seen anything like this yet. There is still something interesting in this life,” she says.
Wonder house
Natalia walks around the beautifully decorated house with inaudible steps. In the kitchen, which is also a living room, the engineers are meeting to discuss how to improve energy efficiency.
“I like it. But I can't believe it,” the woman replies, showing her bedroom with a separate bathroom.
In total, the house has three bedrooms, one of which serves as a shelter, two bathrooms, a spacious living room that turns into a kitchen studio, and a small corridor. There are no corners. The walls are rounded, in the form of concrete “sausages”. But they fit the style.
The five-meter-long 3D printer, owned by a Ukrainian startup, printed the inner and outer walls simultaneously, in three layers. Inside, there is insulation and a stiffener. The total thickness of the wall is 60 centimeters.
This 130-square-meter frame was built in 4 days. Due to the intense heat, they had to work at night. The specially developed cement-sand mixture hardened in minutes. This made it possible to cover it layer by layer. At the same time, the construction itself lasted almost a year.
“The project took so long to implement because it was a charity project, and everything depended on funding. In addition, we had a hard time connecting electricity. Because of this, there was a 4-month downtime. In general, such a house can be built from foundation to roof in 3 months,” says project manager Inna Furman.
Programmers, architects, designers, and manufacturers of building materials, furniture, and household appliances — more than a hundred partners in total joined in the creation of the innovative house. Because everyone provided products, not money, it is difficult for the benefactors to estimate the full cost of the house. However, the cost of 3D construction is estimated at $700 per square meter.
This is almost the price of a gas block and is several times cheaper than brick. But the quality, durability and number of technological processes are completely different. This is a capital construction, absolutely reliable, durable, for 100 years. I understand the skepticism of many people, especially supporters of old technologies. This is normal. But I am sure that such construction is the future. And soon we will hear about such a concept as printing houses at the legislative level.Inna Furman, head of the United for Victory charity project
“You will be mine anyway”
Natalia and Yaroslav met at work. They worked in a wholesale store in Irpin. She was a salesperson, he was a loader.
“Who is this guy we have here?” she would playfully ask the girls in the department.
And the guy wouldn't leave her alone, carrying handfuls of candy. He seemed manly, responsible.
When she found out that he was 10 years younger, she was numb with shock. She refused to date him. She had a young daughter from her first marriage.
“I said: ‘What are you talking about? We're not going to be together. It's not supposed to be like that.’ But he didn't give up. He was always there for me. And he said: ‘You will be mine anyway’.”
Their photo hangs on the wall in the summer kitchen: Natalia leaning against her husband, Yaroslav in his military uniform.
He died when he was only 35.
The woman says that he wanted to join the army back in 2014, but was not accepted because of his limited fitness. 2 years ago, this decision was no longer discussed.
He could not do otherwise. I only begged him not to go to Bakhmut. He could have been demobilized for health reasons. And he answered me: “Have you forgotten Bucha? I have two daughters and a wife. Do you want them to come here again and do this? And I will not leave my boys.”Natalia, wife of Yaroslav Berezov
Under the terms of the project, Natalia is not supposed to change anything in the interior of her new home for a year. But she wants to keep the photo with Yaroslav in plain sight.
She had only one condition for the organizers: not to touch the trees. There are more than 30 of them on the plot: young apple trees, cherries, apricots, peaches. She and her husband planted these trees together.
“This is an opportunity to tell more about our dad”
The day the house was opened was the youngest daughter's 18th birthday.
Alina then said: “It was my dad’s birthday present.”
The older Ania wipes her tears with her hand. She is also sure that her father's help had something to do with it.
“We have always said that our dad helps us. He would not have left us in such trouble. And this is not just a story about volunteers helping to rebuild the house, but the fact that we got involved in this unique project, where there will be a lot of media coverage and where we will be able to tell more and more about Dad... I wanted to do something to make sure he was remembered!”
“Yes, that's his style. To stir things up, to make a fuss...” adds Natalia, who is rocking a baby carriage nearby.
Only a few weeks she became a grandmother at the age of 45. Ania gave birth to a boy.
During the project, philanthropist Inna Furman became the owner of 3D UTU, the company that printed the house. According to her, with this house and the technology in general, they wanted to show solutions for scaling and the possibility of rapid reconstruction. This could be a solution for printing not just individual houses, but entire streets or even towns, for example, for IDPs. Such projects, she says, are more cost-effective.
When asked whether there are already plans for further programs for residential buildings using 3D technology, she replied that they have conceived a unique project. However, she has not yet disclosed the details.
This material was created with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
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