Category: Italy

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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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THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN / rammed earth at the BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2012

There is nothing new under the sun is an installation comprised of rammed earth and created for the 2012 Venice Biennial. The installation was done within the collateral event, “Traces of Century and Future Steps”, organised and curated by artist Rene Rietmeyer (head of the Global Art Affairs Foundation) and hosted at the Palazzo Bembo just next to the Rialto bridge. The architects Estudio Altiplano, from Bogota, Colombia, were given a space at the fourth floor of a 15th century palace to install the work—a performance piece that consisted of hoisting 3.5 tons of earth into the small chamber then compacting it into a solid rammed earth object. The work engaged many participants, simultaneously a demonstration in the process of fabricating allowing a discussion to emerge about topics of tradition, contemporaneity, territory and the built environment.

The installation formally suggests to the observer how architecture depends on matter in the form of territory, energy and resources. Earth was used to demonstrate how earth is a basic building material used all over the world and that traditional building techinques necessarily depend on oral tradition or transformation of knowledge to evolve and survive. Additionally, the use of earth demonstrated the plastic notion that conjures the act of subtracting compacted earth from the ground to mold it into new shapes without interfering in its material capacities. A continued discussion surrounding the project continues at http://www.rammedweb.com/

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The 10th International Photo Competition

CEDTERRA is hosting the The 10th International Photo Competition on “Earthen architectures: landscapes of architectures”. The competition is an initiative of the Municipality of Casalincontrada, in the Italian province of Chieti and the Documentation Centre on Earth Architectures, Terrae onlus Association The “rediscovery” of the knowledge linked to earthen architecture recomposed in images, like tiles of a mosaic made of people, things, material and places. Images that could be interpreted as “surviving structures” or “new scenarios”, as well as architectures of the territory, memories and situations. For more information visit: http://www.casediterra.it/concorsofoto.htm

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9th International Earth Architecture Photography Competition

The Centro di Documentazione sulle Case di Terra is hosting the 9th International Earth Architecture Photography Competition with the theme “Le case di terra paesaggio di architettura”.

CALENDAR:
Entry deadline: 30/06/2010
Judges meeting: 07/08/2010
Announcement of results: 31/08/2010 on the Internet page: www.casediterra.it
Works exhibition: dal/from 18/09/2010 al/to 30/09/2010 presso il / in the CED Terra Casalincontrada
Opening: 18/09/2010
Prize-giving: 18/09/2010

JURY:
President of jury:
Mr Maurizio Morandi – University of Firenze

Jury
Mrs Concetta Di Luzio – Mayor of Casalincontrada
Mrs Stefania Giardinelli – Terrae onlus Association
Mrs Gaia Bollini – Città della terra cruda National Association
Mr Gianni Ortolano – Member of Fotoclub Chieti

TEMPORARY JUDGES:
Mr Gabriele Esposito – Associazione Terrae onlus
Mrs Caterina Buccione – Associazione Terrae onlus

PRIZES: FIXED SUBJECT: “RAW EARTH ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES” One single section: B/W and Colour
1° Classificato/1st prize winner: Euro 515,00
2° Classificato/2nd prize winner: Euro 260,00
3° Classificato/3rd prize winner: Euro 130,00
To the five outstanding photographs: a book on earthen architecture

SPECIAL PRIZES
– To the best photograph on new earthen architectural structures;
– To the best photograph on earthen architectural structures in the Abruzzo Region;
– To the best photo of earthen architecture in Italy;
– To the best photo of earthen architecture in the world;
– Special prizes for schools.

PRESENTATION
The 9th International Photo Competition on “Earthen architectures: landscapes of architectures” is an initiative of the Municipality of Casalincontrada, in the Italian province of Chieti and the Documentation Centre on Earth Architectures, Terrae onlus Association The “rediscovery” of the knowledge linked to earthen architecture recomposed in images, like tiles of a mosaic made of people, things, material and places. Images that could be interpreted as “surviving structures” or “new scenarios”, as well as architectures of the territory, memories and situations.

For more information visit the competition website.

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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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Mediterra 2009: 1st Mediterranean Conference on Earth Architecture

Mediterra 2009: 1st Mediterranean Conference on Earth Architecture will take place 13-16 March 2009 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Aims
Mediterra 2009 aims principally to state the art of research, to study recent achievements in heritage conservation and architectural design, to increase university and professional training and to gather the network activities developed in the Mediterranean region.

Contribution
This 1st Conference will include specialists from throughout the Mediterranean region. It will also have a transdisciplinary contribution that will bridge natural sciences, social sciences, and professional practices. A new global challenge requires a broad definition of a new discipline, with earth architecture at the crossroads of the sciences. The Mediterranean Region, with its history of many cultures and civilizations, now emerges as the core of new political and societal challenges being shared among Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Program
Friday 13th – Opening of the Conference (Presentations related with the 1st Theme)
Saturday 14th – Conference (Presentations related with the 2nd and 3rd Themes). Official dinner.
Sunday 15th – Conference and Closure (Presentations related with the 4th and 5th Themes)
Monday 16th – Visit to earth architecture in Sardinia

Organizers
DiARCH Facoltà di Architettura, University of Cagliari
ESG Escola Superior Gallaecia
CRATerre-ENSAG International Research Center and Unesco Chair earth architecture
RAS Regione Autonoma della Sardegna

Under the Aegis of
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
ICCROM International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
ICOMOS-ISCEAH International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage
GCI Getty Conservation Institute

Important Dates
30 June 2008 – Abstract submission
31 July 2008 – Notification of abstract’s acceptance
30 September 2008 – Sending of full paper
15 November 2008 – Notification of paper’s revision
15 December 2008 – Final paper delivery

Themes
1. Earth-building cultures and traditional architecture
2. Archaeology, history and anthropology
3. Conservation of cultural heritage
4. Research about architecture, town planning and cultural landscape
5. Academic teaching and professional training

Languages
French & English (with simultaneous translation)

For more information download the conference brief or contact:
Mediterra 2009 – Facoltà di Architettura – DiARCH
Piazza d’Armi 16 – 09123 Cagliari – Italy
E-mail mediterra@unica.it
Site http://people.unica.it/mediterra/
Tel. (+39) 070 6755807
Fax (+39) 070 6755816

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Arcitetture di Terra in Sardegna

The book Arcitetture di Terra in Sardegna, the first of its kind on the subject, presents the results of new research into Sardinia’s indigenous tradition of earthen architecture. Author Enrico Fodde explores the cultural context of these buildings and describes practical techniques for the conservation of this unique and rapidly diminishing heritage. By interviewing craftsmen with first hand knowledge of working on these structures and by means of laboratory analysis of the materials involved — principally mud brick and lime — Dr Fodde explores the mechanisms of decay and proposes methods suitable for repairing buildings in need of restoration. Case studies are presented to show how different methods of repair have worked out in practice. Finally, consideration is also given to ways in which the results of this work might form the basis of research into other building traditions in the Mediterranean basin and elsewhere.

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The 5th International Photo Contest on Earth Architecture

conc2006.jpg

The 5th International Photo Contest on “Earth Architectures: architectures landscapes” is an initiative of Casalincontrada (Ch) Documentation Centre on Earth Architectures. The “rediscovery” of the knowledge linked to raw earth architecture recomposed in images, like tiles of a mosaic made of people, things, material and places. Images that can be of “surviving structures” but also “new scenarios”, architectures of the territory, memories and situations. Entry deadline: June 30, 2006