Together with Aki Hamada Architects, WASP has 3D printed a series of structures for Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.Using a Crane WASP, 20 toilet facilities were 3D printed, along with walls, planters, the structures around toilets, and small stages.This continues a series of expo-related structures and dwellings made by WASP, including a self-sufficient home, another eco home, a part of Salone del Mobile, a display for Milan’s Triennale, and buildings in Colombia.
Whereas there are lots of construction 3D printing firms, WASP alone has a world-saving mission at its heart.The team devotes extensive resources to geopolymers and materials other than concrete or polymer.That sustainability focus gives it an edge with non-governmental agencies, eco-conscious brands, architects, and governments. In this case, the company is helping to create nest-like structures from locally sourced materials.
Without brick and board, construction’s form variability and the forms themselves can be radically changed.A more fluid layer-based architecture is not only more organic, but also feels somehow more rustic and natural than more rectangular forms.Camouflage has many fragmented and distorted patterns to break up the rectangle and make a form disappear into the background.
Similarly 3D printed architecture can make a shape blend in with nature or a specific background.In this case, WASP team members scanned rocks all over Japan to derive the shapes of the structure.Soil was used as a material, and the result was meant to feel like a canyon or other natural landscape.
The soil was mixed with seaweed as a binder, along with straw and clay.The structure is meant to be biodegradable, and the print itself is hardened by magnesium oxide.The entire structure is 3D printed indoors and sets in place. Rather than print in place, in this case the components were all centrally made.
56 panels, 4 planters, and 45 blocks were 3D printed, along with hand wash basin bases, which were married with porcelain units.The panels were 93cm x 30cm and 120cm in height, and were joined to timber walls.Each planter was 6.2m in circumference and 1.7m tall – an impressive structure – and part seating area, as well as a planter.
For the blocks, bamboo poles were used as a kind of green rebar to reinforce the structure.For architects, using natural materials to make customized, free flowing landscapes is obviously beguiling.Freed from the rectangular, they’re able to dream just that little bit more.
Having said that, architecturally we’re still a bit caught up in the Flintstones paradigm.A lot of stuff looks either like a friendly Bedrock starter home or like something on Tatooine.Earth rising up in walls is a novelty and can be visually arresting.
You’ve only to look at the image above to notice the jarring contrast between a section 3D printed by WASP and a more familiar warehouse type building.Which of the two looks alien to you? At first the architected beaver dam looks strange, but if you keep looking, it’s the straight-walled warehouse that seems more like the foreign object fallen from the sky.With more natural architecture in the offing, WASP’s vision is one that can radically transform architecture.
But, for that we first have to transform architects.The man in the middle vision of many architects is still governed by a starchitect, genius-like appreciation for themselves.“I shape the world for others” could be seen as either a calling, or a narcissistic pursuit of youthful sandcastle building gone too far.
If architects would put their vision and imprint last, and focus more on the landscape and utility, then we’d get radically different architecture made possible through Additive Manufacturing.What forms directly surround the structure, and expressed in total hours, what will people be doing in this structure? We can now actually calculate this and track it through 3D scanning and computer vision.That kind of an approach could lead to buildings that do not reflect an architect’s vision, but rather their actual use and position.
I’m not saying that this is the only possible route to digital construction futures, but I’m saying that this is the future we should build.Architecture without architects.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.Powered by FacFox
Powered by 3D Systems
Powered by Craftcloud
Powered by Endeavor 3D
3DPrinting Business Directory
3DPrinting Business Directory
