Massa Lombarda, Italy

“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,” states Mario Cucinella founder and creative director 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.”

Mario Cucinella Architects has constructed the world’s very first 3D printed house made entirely from raw earth.

Named “Tecla,” and built-in collaboration with specialists in the field WASP, the structure demonstrates the point where natural materials meet technology and has just been unveiled in Italy’s Massa Lombarda region, near the city of Ravenna.

With some 83 million people adding to the world’s population each year, most concentrated in the poorest areas of the world, governments today face a major challenge.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in fact aims, among other things, to ensure that everyone has access to an adequate and safe home and basic services.

In this context, the implications of new construction processes—of which 3D printing is currently the most advanced technology—are far-reaching.

With the ability to build a house in the faction of the time hitherto required by traditional technologies, while reducing waste and emissions, a profound rethinking of the house model is increasingly strategic.

With this in mind, and following the philosophies of two companies, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP have given life to the design of a new sustainable habitat that is proposed as a completely new home concept.

This concept, called TECLA as one of the invisible cities imagined by Italo Calvio in “The Invisible Cities,” is articulated around the possibility of creating a new construction chain that bases its sustainable strategy on the elimination of waste and scrapes throughout the process.

To achieve this important purpose, the printing material selected for the first prototype could only be the local terrain.

TECLA is conceived as a basic cell, whose shape and characteristics can be modified according to the climate and the local context, which can be aggregated in various ways to better adapt to the places where it will be grafted.

The prototype is located in Massa Lombarda, and is an example how this concept can evolve and contaminate the surrounding space.

The building was created with the cutting edge of current 3D printing technology, and as a result the team was able to construct its 60 sq m in a mere 200 hours.

This was helped by the fact that the structure was designed to be entirely self-supported – it requires no other framework structure and can hold its own weight.

A minimalist approach in material use – effectively, the whole house is created out a single material in one go – means the risk of complications on the building site are low helping things move more efficiently and faster.

Consisting of two domes that interpenetrate each other, the prototype contains a living area, designed as an open space, and a sleeping area with a small bathroom.

Outside, a small lake contains rainwater and gray waters, which, through a phytodepuration process, are reused for the garden, while a second cell produces clean energy through solar panels and terms.

The streamlined approach with construction is mirrored in an appropriately strong aesthetic.

The house appears coherent, with the same visual style both inside and out.

The environment feels natural and warm, with gentle colorings and a tactile surface finish that is friendly to
the touch.

The internal spaces – a living area, a bedroom and bathroom – feature tailor-made, built-in-furniture to match the overall aesthetic, allowing at the same time enough free, open space for customisation and flexibility if needed.

The goal is to make TECLA a prototype of a house completely detached from the grid.

Project: TECLA—3D Printed Eco-Friendly Sustainable House
Architects: MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects
Design Team: Mario Cucinella, Augusto Barcichello, and Irene Giglio
Sustainability Research SOS-School of Sustainability with Lorenzo Porcelli, Stefano Rosso, and Lori Zillante
3D Multi-Printer Technology: WASP
Photographers: WASP and Lago Corzza