Category: * Digital Technology

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IAAC: TOVA

TOVA is the first architectural construction in Spain located in the facilities of IAAC Valldaura Labs, Barcelona, built with a Crane WASP, the architectural 3D printer. The project was completed in 2022. The construction can be completed within weeks using 100% local materials and local labor, zero waste and a close to virtually zero carbon emission footprint. This manufacturing system can be used anywhere in the world and can help to housing emergencies. The project has been developed by the team of students and researchers from the 3D Printing Architecture (3dPA) postgraduate program of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).


Also, this project is one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly construction forms that can be applied today. The construction took 7 weeks time to complete, a Crane WASP, the architectural 3D printer and km zero materials. The structure is made ofclay and water obtained on site. To ensure the longevity of the material in resistance to weather, a waterproof coating is added using raw extracted materials such as aloe and egg whites.

Thebuild area is 9 m2. The prototype took into account performative design strategies, conceived during a two-week design charette where students synthesized the lessons learned in the research phase to develop the components of the prototype: light openings, air flow, wall cavity ventilation, thermal conductivity, roof structure, built-in furniture, waterproofing and floor substructure.

The proposed design has different structural considerations in the roof beam system as well as the innate structure of the clay walls. The walls are designed to be braced with T and L joints, rather than straight lines. The resulting closed interior space is habitable, weather resistant and climatically adapted by the various design interventions.

Citation

https://iaac.net/project/3dpa-prototype-2022/

https://www.archdaily.com/988078/prototype-tova-posgrado-3d-printing-architecture-iaac

 

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WASP: Gaia

WASP (World’s Advanced Savings Project) has pioneered an innovative approach to sustainable architecture with their 3D-printed house called Gaia. This eco-friendly structure represents a significant advancement in sustainable construction and showcases the potential of using natural, locally-sourced materials in 3D printing technology.

Demonstration Video

First Layer Video

Materials and Composition

Gaia is built primarily using a mixture of:

  1. 25% local soil (30% clay, 40% silt, 30% sand)
  2. 40% chopped rice straw
  3. 25% rice husk
  4. 10% hydraulic lime

This composition utilizes natural waste materials from rice production, making it an environmentally conscious choice.

Construction Process

The house was 3D printed using the Crane WASP, a specialized 3D printer designed for on-site construction. The printing process took approximately 100 hours to complete 30 square meters of wall with a thickness of 40 cm.

Design and Performance

Gaia incorporates:

  1. Natural ventilation systems
  2. Thermo-acoustic insulation
  3. Bioclimatic efficiency

The structure maintains a comfortable temperature year-round without the need for heating or air conditioning systems, showcasing its energy efficiency.

Environmental Impact and Cost

Gaia demonstrates remarkable sustainability:

  1. Near-zero environmental impact
  2. Total material cost for the walls: €900
  3. Biodegradable construction materials
  4. Minimal carbon footprint

Significance and Future Implications

WASP’s Gaia project represents a significant step towards addressing global housing needs sustainably. By utilizing local materials and advanced 3D printing technology, this approach offers:

  1. A potential solution for rapid, low-cost housing construction
  2. Reduced environmental impact compared to traditional building methods
  3. Adaptability to various geographical locations and climates

The success of Gaia has led to further developments, such as the TECLA project, which aims to create even more sustainable and scalable housing solutions.

WASP’s Gaia project demonstrates the viability of combining an ancient building practice and material (earth) with modern 3D printing technology, and might demonstrate one way to create sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective housing.

Sources

  1. https://www.designnuance.com/the-first-3d-printed-house-gaia-built-with-earth/
  2. https://www.3dwasp.com/en/3d-printed-house-gaia/
  3. https://www.archpaper.com/2019/04/gaia-house-facadesplus/
  4. https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/wasp-showcases-3d-printed-bio-building-at-we-are-nature-event-176687/
  5. https://www.3dnatives.com/en/wasp-moves-towards-sustainable-construction-by-3d-printing-soil/
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TECLA House

TECLA House, designed by MCA and engineered by WASP.

The TECLA House is a collaboration between Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA) and World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP). The name “TECLA” is a portmanteau of “technology” and “clay,” and references Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, specifically the fictional city of Thekla, were construction never ceases.

Massimo Moretti, WASP founder.
Mario Cucinella, MCA founder.

 

The materials used in the TECLA House include local clay and soil, water, rice husks, and a binder (which constitutes less than 5% of the total mixture). This makes it a true “0km building,” meaning the materials are sourced directly from the site on which the dwelling is built. WASP, an Italian 3D printing firm, brought their technological expertise to the project. Founded in 2012 by Massimo Moretti, WASP unveiled Crane WASP, their flagship 3D printer, in 2018. Mario Cucinella, the principal architect on this project, designed a morphology inspired by the potter wasp and based on the research of the School of Sustainability (SOS), Cucinella’s post-graduate school.

Sketch for the TECLA House by Mario Cucinella.

 

Interior view of the TECLA House.

TECLA was built with 350 layers of 3D printed earth. The configuration of the walls was dictated by the humidity and temperature of the climate, and SOS made several infill case studies optimized for different geographical locations.

Detail of the TECLA printing process.
Diagram of the infill configuration of TECLA.

 

Crane WASP imagined as a modular system of infinite extent.

The TECLA House is the first dwelling built using multiple 3D printers working simultaneously and collaboratively. This project was the proof of concept for the Crane WASP. WASP claims that Crane WASP is an infinite 3D printer, whose print area of 50 square meters can be extended in a modular fashion to cover a printing area of arbitrary size.

The two Italian firms built their prototypical TECLA house in Massa Lombarda, Italy, but the idea is that the house can be reproduced anywhere. WASP advertises their “Maker Economy Starter Kit,” which can be purchased online and fits inside a single shipping container. TECLA can be reproduced in “200 hours of printing, […] 150 km of extrusion, 60 cubic meters of natural materials for an average consumption of less than 6 kW.” Interested parties can also purchase an entire Crane WASP rig for €160,000.

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IAAC: Digital Adobe

Completed wall and platform on IAAC campus outside of Barcelona [1]
Architects: Alexandre Dubor and Edouard Cabay (see below for full team)

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Year of Completion: 2018

Area: 10 square meters

Digital Adobe is a research project developed by faculty directors Alexandre Dubor and Edouard Cabay at the IAAC (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia) in 2017-2018 (The rest of the contributors can be found here). The goal was to apply additive manufacturing techniques to the creation of an adobe wall with “highly performative structural and passive/climatic behavior” that could be adapted to the material limitations and climatic conditions of many locations [1]. The project culminated with the design and construction of a wall composed of 3D printed Adobe bricks, assembled by hand. The printed mixture is composed of 43% clay (unusually high for traditional adobe) , 25% aggregate, 13% water, and 1% bio based additives. The mixture was developed and strength tested before  being used in smaller scale 3D printed prototypes and eventually the 1:1 wall. Assembly took 5 days [3]. The whole process can be seen in this video produced by the IAAC.

The structural capacity of the wall and its potential for integration with other building materials is demonstrated by the connection of a timber frame platform that bears on the wall. The research team also designed the wall to be self supporting. This is achieved through the tapering profile from 0.7m at the base to 0.2m at the top. This geometry combined with the wall’s own weight provide stability [1].

Wood beam to adobe wall connection [2]
The other determinant of geometry was passive climactic behavior. The research team aimed to harness the natural properties of adobe, while enhancing them via geometric variation. Hollow bricks allow for cavity ventilation in the final assembly (while also saving material) and protrusions create a self shading effect that limits solar gain. The internal structure and fill of the bricks also vary with differing amounts of earth fill and sizes of cavities. These differences produce a portion of the wall more attuned to passive heat gain and another optimized for ventilation and therefore passive cooling [2]. 

The varied cross section of 3D printed adobe bricks with differing amounts of earth infill. The portion of the wall on the left side of the image is optimized for passive heat gain, and cooling on the right side. [2]
The wall is significant for its demonstration of enhanced structural capacity with minimal material, and potential adaptability to various locales through enhanced passive heating and cooling made possible by the  varied brick profiles. While the production process is likely cost prohibitive for widespread application at time of its construction, the project is an important investigation into how an adobe structure’s performance might be enhanced through the formal possibilities made possible with additive manufacturing. 

A rendering produced by the IAAC team speculating on future use of the system for full buildings [1]
1.Digital Adobe. IAAC. (2019a, April 30). https://iaac.net/project/digital-adobe/ 

2. Digital Adobe – additive manufacturing with adobe towards passive habitats. IAAC Blog. (2018, August 11)  https://www.iaacblog.com/programs/digital-adobe-additive-manufacturing-adobe-towards-passive-habitats/ 

3. IAAC, Digital Adobe, IAAC Open Thesis Fabrication (2018; Barcelona) Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTug99TUYcw&list=PLrJLvlOA1ReATJ-qyTKT5tFWdBVbYCuM-&index=10

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Gramazio and Kohler: Remote Material Deposition

Gramazio and Kohler is a research group based in ETH Zurich, Switzerland, who consider the “interlinking of data and material and the resulting implications for architectural design” [gramaziokohler.arch.ethz.ch]. Working between material, manufacturing logic, and the design process, the group uses technology, robots, and programming as a means to define a new architectural expression.

Remote Material Deposition Sitterwerk Timelapse

Interrogating methods and workspace limitations of the construction/build process, Remote Material Deposition literally builds from afar; “remote material”, as in material situated at a distance, and “deposition” as the ejection, depositing, and/or build up of a material.

Ballistic trajectories of light projectiles through bulb exposure

A robotic catapulting device, which is hooked up to a camera sensor installed at a birds-eye view, is installed within in a confined workspace. The catapulting device is loaded with loam projectiles, a composite soil made of clay, sand, and silt. The material in this process must be able to adhere to its fellow material upon impact, and harden after. For this reason loam (mud, earth) was chosen as the primary building material. The loam is shaped in cylinders, as to maximize the colliding forces of impact in order to adhere to the existing materials that were “shot” before it. Below is a diagram of the workspace.

Since uncertainties are bound to occur with the depositing, or lack of depositing, of the loam projectiles the over head sensor captures the mistakes, uncertainty, and data from the build, sends that information back to the design system (computer), and adjusts for the next round of projectiles. Although a defined proposal for design is used to set up and initialize the machine, the construction and build process becomes the design process; the two are linked in a feedback loop.

Design + Feedback loop

The use of earth/loam in this context is necessary for the method of construction applied, the adherence of projectiles, however the material and concept of this application can exist independently. What would the process of “ballistic architecture” look like at a much larger scale, if material were not a condition?

Consider the word “ballistics”: missiles, bombs, destruction. Countries such as Palestine and Afghanistan  (and so many more) have had entire historical and cultural identities destroyed through ballistic warfare and destruction of their architecture and built infrastructure. It is an incredible thought to place Gramazio and Kohler’s work in the context of ballistic creation. Instead of destroying each other through missiles and projectiles, can countries and nations build each other instead?

Size: 12 m × 12 m and a ceiling height of 7 m (interior construction space)

Year: 2014

Photos: ETH Zurich, Gramazio and Kohler, Michael Lyrenmann

Architects: Gramazio and Kohler

Students: unknown

References:

[1] https://gramaziokohler.arch.ethz.ch/web/e/lehre/277.html Gramazio Kohler website

[2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317340911_REMOTE_MATERIAL_DEPOSITION Conference Paper

[3] https://vimeo.com/100784860 Production video

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IAAC: Open Thesis Fabrication

image of 3d printing robot making curvy cellular forms out of clay
Image Source: OTF Booklet

Open Thesis Fabrication is a six-month applied research program for postgraduates at the Institute for advanced architecture of Catalonia.

The program focus is on combining additive manufacturing with construction technology to create sustainable architecture with key areas of research in robotic manufacturing, material research, and performance-based design.

The program works with non-governmental organizations to develop designs for use in African humanitarian contexts and is comprised of architects, engineers, designers, and professionals with previous knowledge of digital fabrication and computational design.

It’s learning objectives are for program participants to:

  • Gain experience in large-scale 3D printing
  • Develop skills in digital fabrication, computational design, and material research
  • Learn to provide architectural solutions considering various aspects of construction

This is achieved through the implementation of three phases, Exploration, Prototype Design Charettes, and Prototype Construction.

chart that displays the phases of implementation and timeline
Image Source: OTF Booklet

Examples of projects that have been completed include:

  • Digital Adobe – A 2-meter wide and 5-meter-high printed clay wall [2017-2018]
  • Terraperforma – A façade design of parametrically constructed modules optimized for solar radiation, wind behavior, and structural 3D printing [2016-2017]
  • Digital Urban Orchard – A wooden pavilion made with digital and robotic fabrication divided into a wooden structure, aquaponic system, and silicon skin designed to capture the ideal solar radiation for winter and summer.
  • Minibuilders – a family of small-scale construction robots that are capable of constructing objects larger than itself in order to address the limitation found in additive manufacturing that often constrains the proportions of fabricated objects to the size of the machine.
Image Source: OTF Booklet
Image Source: OTF Booklet
Image Source: OTF Booklet

 

Image Source: OTF Booklet
schematic and images of mini robots being used to produce clay structures larger than the size of the machine
Image Source: OTF Booklet

For more information regarding tuition fees, how to apply, grading systems, etc., be sure to check out IAAC OTF resource guide: https://iaac.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/OTF_Booklet_2019-22-07-2.pdf

 

 

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Radiolara Pavilion

In a small shed on an industrial park near Pisa is a machine that can print buildings. The machine itself looks like a prototype for the automotive industry. Four columns independently support a frame with a single armature on it. Driven by CAD software installed on a dust-covered computer terminal, the armature moves just millimetres above a pile of sand, expressing a magnesium-based solution from hundreds of nozzles on its lower side. It makes four passes. The layer dries and Enrico Dini recalibrates the armature frame. The system deposits the sand and then inorganic binding ink. The exercise is repeated. The millennia-long process of laying down sedimentary rock is accelerated into a day. A building emerges.

The new material (inorganic binder + sand or mineral dust) has been subjected to traction, compression and bending tests. The results have been extraordinary and the artificial sandstone features excellent resistance properties. Effectively this process returns any type of sand or mineral dust back to its original compact stone state.

The binder transforms any kind of sand or marble dust into a stone-like material (i.e. a mineral with microcrystalline characteristics) with a resistance and traction superior to portland cement, to a point where there is no need to use iron to reinforce the structure. This artificial stone is chemically one hundred percent environmentally friendly.

The process is four times faster than conventional building, costs a third to a half as much as using Portland cement, creates little waste and is better for the environment. But its chief selling point may simply be that it makes creating Gaudiesque, curvy structures simple.

Read more at [ Blueprint Magazine | Dezeen | Previously ]

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The Mud Tub

The Mud Tub, by Tom Gerhardt, is an experimental organic interface that allows people to control a computer while playing in the mud. By sloshing, squishing, pulling, punching, etc, in a tub of mud (yes, wet dirt), users control games, simulators, and expressive tools; interacting with a computer in a new, completely organic, way. Born out of a motivation to close the gap between our bodies and the digital world, the Mud Tub frees the traditional computer interaction model of it’s rigidity, allowing humans to use their highly developed sense of touch, and creative thinking skills in a more natural way.

Could building architecture with mud coincide control 3D printers producing earth buildings while being powered by the mud itself?

Here, Matt Parker’s Lumarca and Tom Gerhardt’s Mud Tub join forces to make some cool interactions happen.