Architects have designed a prototype of a 3D printed habitat, launched near Bologna in Italy.

Designed by Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA) and engineered and built by WASP, TECLA is an innovative, sustainable urban housing model.

According to the designers, the prototype is a new circular housing model, created using entirely reusable, recyclable materials taken from the local terrain.

TECLA 3D printing

Not only is it the first house to be made using multiple collaborative 3D printers, it is also 3D printed entirely using locally sourced clay.

“Together with WASP, we aim at developing an innovative 3D printed prototype for a habitat that responds to the increasingly urgent climate revolution and the needs of changes dictated by community needs,” says Mario Cucinella, founder of Mario Cucinella Architects.

“We need a paradigm shift in the field of architecture that gets closer to the needs of people, thus finding an answer for the “Earth” within the “earth”; a collaboration that becomes the union between empathic architecture and the application of new technologies.”

 

TECLA WASP system

Printing began in September 2019 and is expected to be complete by the beginning of 2020.