TECLA

Mario Cucinella’s architecture studio has created the first 3D-printed raw earth housing module in Ravenna. It is such an innovative model that it was selected to represent Italy at COP26 in Glasgow, the United Nations conference on climate change. “A pilot project inspired by one of Italo Calvino’s invisible cities”, says the Italian architect. Made in Massa Lombarda (Ravenna), Tecla is a prototype that bridges past and future in the name of technological, social and environmental innovation. “New technology, ancient material: a first experiment that breaks the paradigm of big waste and establishes a new ‘treaty of friendship’ with the Planet”. Our thoughts turn to places of hardship: this module can migrate wherever it is needed and become a valid alternative to containers and tent cities. Created in collaboration with WASP - the World’s Advanced Saving Project - and SOS - School of Sustainability (the training centre he founded) -, it defines an ecological housing unit: the composition of the mixture is designed to balance thermal mass, insulation and ventilation. In just 200 hours it is possible to print 60 square metres, complete with a living room with kitchen (and tree), as well as a sleeping area with bathroom. Even the furnishings, partially integrated into the structure, embrace the philosophy of reuse and controlled waste recycling since the earth returns to the earth at the end of the cycle. A generous and circular project. www.mcarchitects.it