Mar 22, 2016 | By Tess
Earlier today, on March 22nd, the mayor of Italian town Massa Lombarda, Daniele Bassi, signed an agreement with Italian 3D printer company WASP’s business owner Massimo Moretti to begin the construction of an experimental, eco-friendly, 3D printed town.
The village, which is set to be constructed beginning next April in the municipality of Massa Lomarda, will be based around a massive, 12 meter tall 3D printer, which will supply the town with all its necessary structures and furnishings. The 3D printer, which is already being constructed, is WASP’s BigDelta 3D printer. The huge machine was first showcased last September in Massa Lombarda and later in Rome for Maker Faire 2015, where it was positively and enthusiastically received by maker audiences. Now after a brief hiatus the massive 3D printer has been permanently installed and will work towards building the experimental eco-friendly village of Shambalha.
Moretti, WASP’s business owner explains the motivation behind the town’s name: “We decided to name the technological village Shambalha from the name of the mythological place that symbolizes the city of peace, tranquility and happiness. A city quoted in a lot of cultural documents for its spirituality and technical advance. House, Food, Employment, Healthcare and Wellness are the basic human necessities of life. In our Shambalha we’ll print houses and vertical vegetable gardens of different sizes. There will also be a laboratory for compact desktop printer to make objects (furniture, biomedical, jewellery, ceramics). Thanks to the collaboration with some artists we are developing a cultural project”.
The initiative to build a low-energy, sustainable village, organized by WASP in collaboration with the municipality of Massa Lombarda, located in the Province of Ravenna, will be a unique experiment within Italy, and possibly even within the entire world. Mayor Bassi, who is excited about the new initiative says, “Massa Lombarda has always been a district interested in innovation. The important agreement we signed today proves that the cohesion of energy alliance and creativity between the Municipality and a capable entrepreneur like Massimo Moretti, it’s a crucial element of development for our city and the youth who we want to guarantee an adequate future commensurate to their hope.”
While the 3D printed sustainable town has not yet been made, the prospect is incredibly exciting. As the press release surrounding the agreement states, “It’ll be the realization of the Maker Economy…where everything is selfmade and nobody depends on monopolistic companies.”
If the village experiment is successful, and we are sure to follow its progress as it is made, the model for the 3D printed community could be exported to other regions of the world, potentially providing solutions to some of the world’s least developed countries.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
Maybe you also like:
- This tiny 3D printed 'Gameboy' Raspberry Pi Zero will take you back to the 90s
- Drexel students use 3D printing to explore how the Dreadnoughtus dinosaur could have moved
- Australian company 3DLI has 3D printed an authentic sounding sitar
- Team FAST develops formic acid based fuel system that powers 3D printed RC car
- Indian startup Tymphones launches laser-scanned 3D printed custom headphones
- US Navy's Trident II D5 Ballistic Missile flies with first 3D printed component
- Maison 203 and Odo Fioravanti unveil new, geometrically inspired 3D printed clutch
- Luxury 3D printed jewelry brand DCT debuts stunning new collection at Toronto Fashion Week
- Star Wars steals the show in Parrot and MyMiniFactory 3D printable drone design challenge
- Release the CRACUNS! 3D printed flying drone can launch from underwater
Employment - basic human necessities of life ? rly ?
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
