TOKYO -- Japanese construction company Obayashi Corporation recently unveiled a structure featuring curved walls and other parts built using 3D printing, showing off the potential for the technology as rising costs and labor shortages put pressure on the industry.

The walls of the structure were made with mortar sprayed by a robot arm from Yaskawa Electric, a major Japanese robot and automation specialist, at the Obayashi facility. Filling the walls with fiber-reinforced concrete gives them enough earthquake resistance to comply with the Building Standard Law, without using steel frames or reinforcing bars.