3D Printed Earth Forest Campus by IAAC

14 August 2024: The students and researchers of the Postgraduate Programme in 3D Printing Architecture of have expanded the 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus in Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona) creating a second building using local soil and natural materials with Crane WASP.

The 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus is an architectural intervention with a number of enclosed, covered and open spaces made from 3D printed earth that also serves as a live laboratory for the testing of new constructive and architectural solutions.

The earth walls are made from material sourced a few meters away: excavated from below 0,5m to avoid organic content, the earth is then dried in the sun, sieved to filter larger stones out, then mixed with water, reinforced with organic fiber and natural enzyme until finally pressed into the 3D printer.

The first phase of the 3D-Printed Earth Forest Campus (TOVA) was awarded the “Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem” prize at the New European Bauhaus in 2023, and described by Ursula von der Leien (EU President) as: “..a cutting edge 3D printing technology to print sustainable buildings made of earth”.

Adjacent to TOVA, TEIXIT extends the living and working area of the forest robotic campus in the Collserola Natural Park.

This ongoing project has reached a crucial milestone by demonstrating the construction of multi-climatic environments with the 3D printing of intelligent performative walls from local earth, a step closer to a carbon-neutral architecture adapted to its users and environment.
WASP and IAAC collaboration

The collaboration between IAAC and WASP has been advancing for more than six years now, contributing to incredible achievements in the fields of sustainable architecture and additive manufacturing.

Students in IAAC’s 3D Printing Architecture program are able to incorporate the institute’s current knowledge and research with WASP technologies through mutual learning experiences.

www.3dwasp.com