The Future Of Residential Habitats

Conceptualized by WASP and Mario Cucinella Architects, TECLA is the world’s first 3D-printed, eco-sustainable house model made of raw earth

- Massimo Moretti and Mario Cucinella

Project: TECLA - Technology and Clay, Massa Lombarda, Italy

Architects: Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP

Mario Cucinella Architects, in association with WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project), recently announced the completion of TECLA - Technology and Clay, the world’s first eco-sustainable housing model 3D printed entirely from raw earth. Inspired by one of Italo Calvino’s ‘invisible cities’, the city in continuous construction, TECLA evokes the strong link between the past and future by combining the matter and spirit of timeless ancient homes with the technological prowess of the 21st century.

Born from the vision of WASP Founder Massimo Moretti and a research project by Mario Cucinella, Founder and Creative Director of Mario Cucinella Architects, TECLA responds to the increasingly serious issue of climate change, to the need for sustainable homes, and to the great global issue of the housing emergency that will have to be faced—particularly in the context of urgent crises generated, for example, by large migrations or natural disasters.

“TECLA shows that a beautiful, healthy, and sustainable home can be built by a machine, giving the essential information to the local raw material. TECLA is the finger that points to the moon. The moon is the home, as a birthright for everybody on the planet. With TECLA, that’s getting possible,” says Moretti.

The Technology