There is an intense debate about finding ways to turn the fashion industry into a more sustainable business, but the sustainability issue is also being tackled in other fields such as architecture, with designers working on developing eco-friendly structures.
In a previous post we looked for example at Anna Heringer who has built in Bangladesh functional structures using mud. In Italy, instead, Mario Cucinella Architects teamed up with Massimo Moretti's pioneering 3D printing company WASP (World's Advanced Saving Project) to create a 3D printed global habitat for sustainable living.
The project was inspired by a basic human right, adequate housing, and by two considerations: as the global population increases, there is a lack in affordable housing.
In 2017 the United Nations published a report demonstrating that the current global population of 7.6 billion people is expected to reach 11.2 billion in 2100, and in 2030 nearly 5 billion people are expected to live in cities. Governments are therefore faced with substantial challenges related to housing solutions and cities will have to be radically rethought. 
Mario Cucinella and his SOS (School of Sustainability), an educational institution he founded, worked on an extensive research about the housing issue, and the cause and effects of homelessness.
The research was conducted with the support of MA students from the Sustainable Environmental Design programme at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
A focus on new technologies and on case studies about locations with different climates, led the researchers to develop a flexible yet resilient and energy-efficient structure.
Dubbed TECLA, the structure is conceived as a habitat to be built on site and in the shortest period of time using multiple collaborative 3D printers.
The TECLA house is composed of two onion-shaped sections, and, once built, it looks from a distance as if it were made with wicker. TECLA is actually made using entirely reusable, recyclable materials – that is locally sourced clay, a biodegradable and recyclable natural material which will effectively make the building zero-waste (and this is what makes it different from other houses that have been planned using 3D printing technologies).
The structure can adapt to multiple environments and it will be suitable for self-production through the use of WASP's innovative technology.
A prototype of TECLA was built at WASP's HQ in Massa Lombarda, near Ravenna, in Italy, using Crane WASP. This technology, launched in 2018 after the Big Delta WASP 12 metres, the largest printer in the world, allows to print on site eco-districts at low environmental impact.
There is also poetic connection in this project: the name comes from an imaginary city described by Italo Calvino in The Invisible Cities.
Calvino's Tecla is in continuous evolution and it is therefore constantly covered in scaffoldings and metallic structures. The inhabitants seem intent on building Tecla almost to stop a destruction that has never started (being unfinished the city can't be destroyed…) or maybe they are afraid that the moment they will remove the scaffoldings, the buildings – and their hopes – will collapse. There's a fundamental difference betwen Calvino's Tecla and Mario Cucinella and WASP's: the latter will definitely be finished as the 3D printed process allows to build the house in a relatively short time. Its future dwellers can therefore forget about scaffolding and building materials and can immediately enjoy living in their new house.
Image credits for this post
All images Courtesy and Copyright Mario Cucinella Architects
1. Printed Habitat
2. 3D printed earth wall section by Crane WASP, model
3. WASP's Maker Economy Starter Kit
4. TECLA – Axonometric view
5, 6, 7 and 8. 3D printed earth wall section by Crane WASP
9. TECLA – Daytime, Summer
10. TECLA – Bedroom, night time
11. TECLA – Living area, night