Archinect has received new project images of the latest 3D printed building prototype produced on-site in Barcelona’s Collserola Natural Park by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). 

The 100-square-meter (1,076-square-foot) Earth Forest Campus project (also called TEIXIT), which uses local soil and natural materials with a Crane WASP 3D printer, was created in collaboration with Hassell and provides a live laboratory for testing new architectural solutions and sustainable construction methods. 

The team says the "organic spatial distribution" of its design is key to the experiment's success. It stands as proof of concept for the "beginning of a labyrinth that distances itself from repetitive standardized contemporary architectural solutions and demonstrates a high level of adaptation of buildings to their users’ needs."

The master plan includes a mixture of enclosed, covered, and open spaces supported by natural stone foundations. To avoid collapsing from their own weight, each wall system had to be printed at a rate of 25 centimeters (almost 10 inches) a day.

After ten days, the formwork could be removed to reveal a geometrically rich network of cavities and 20-centimeter (7.9-inch) wide cantilevers. The walls' thickness finally varies depending on their orientation to the sun and load distribution. Timber roofs, some post-tensioned with steel cables down to the foundations, provide a cover from the elements.

The previous first phase of the 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus project, known as TOVA and constructed in 2022, was awarded the Shaping A Circular Industrial Ecosystem Prize at the New European Bauhaus Awards in 2023. In unison with TOVA, the new design culminates nearly a decade of research from IAAC and the 3D Printing Architecture (3DPA) postgraduate course into the use of earth-based materials. 

The purpose of the research is for the solution to be scaled into an affordable housing solution that can be deployed by Hassell in Tanzania and other humid climates where porous rammed-earth walls are the primary means of building ventilation. 

IAAC notes this year's 3DPA program included 20 students from different countries.