The world’s largest 3D printer may about to make a game-changing development in the sustainable housing sector.
3D printing collective World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP) has unveiled the world’s largest delta-style 3D printer, which can build full-size buildings out of mud and clay for nearly no cost. The BigDelta printer stands 40 feet tall and has nearly completed its first house at a cost of just €48.
Launched in 2003, WASP was founded by Italian innovator Massimo Moretti with the goal to “create a means for affordable fabrication of homes, and provide these means to the locals in poverty stricken areas”.
The inspiration for the project comes from the mud dauber wasp that constructs its home from mud. The houses will be made of a lightweight but durable mixture of terrain and straw kneaded with a mixing machine and a motor hoe.
The houses will be made of a lightweight but durable mixture of terrain and straw
The team have already built a 50cm high wall and their ultimate goal is to build a new village based on a self-sufficient society, able to produce basic requirements in various fields including housing, food, employment, healthcare, education and art.
3D printing has been considered the “next big thing” in construction for the last few years and it has been suggested that it could help solve the UK housing crisis as well as building shelters in underdeveloped communities and even provide quick solutions in war zones.
The choice of clay and mud inputs for the portable BigDelta was a conscious choice – although many 3D printers use cement, Moretti chose earth because of its low environmental footprint, local availability and natural insulating benefits.
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