Construction has just begun on the Tor Alva, or the White Tower, the world’s largest 3-D printed tower. Designed by architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger and printed with concrete by the technology university ETH Zurich, 8 out of 32 structural columns have been completed. Nestled in the village of Mulegns in the Swiss Alps, the White Tower is designed as a venue for music and theater events. Standing at 30 meters, the design features 32 distinct Y-shaped columns, each boasting a pattern of textured details.
A dedicated robot methodically extrudes concrete, crafting each layer at a height of 8mm. Eliminating the need for a traditional framework, this technique heralds a new era of architectural design possibilities using 3-D printing. The White Tower employs 3D-printed concrete as a primary structural component, with steel reinforcement integrated during the robotic printing process.
The tower features five stories and various rooms, ranging from the larger and brighter areas at the top to the more private and quiet areas at the base. A spiral staircase leads visitors past colonnades and through these areas to the performance area at the summit, covered by an 8-meter-high dome.
Created by the Nova Fundazium Origen cultural foundation, this structure demonstrates the power of digital manufacturing and computational design. In fact, it emphasizes the financial and environmental advantages of implementing the specific 3D-printing technology. The design is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2024, offering a cultural center using cutting-edge architectural innovation.
Using layered materials, 3D-printing offers precision and the freedom to create complex, custom designs, introducing a new era in manufacturing. In other similar news, the team for the Chair of Digital Construction Technologies at ETH Zurich has integrated computational design, digital manufacturing, and new materials to explore non-planar robotic additive manufacturing methods. Ultimately, these new methods reimagine the initial restriction that has long been associated with the 3D-printing methodology.
Last month, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now home to the world’s first-ever 3D-printed mosque, spanning an area of 5,600 sqm. Completed within six months, the mosque surpassed the United Arab Emirates’ projected timeline for a similar endeavour. Finally, ICON has just unveiled various toolkits and products to modernize construction processes, including an AI Architect, a digital library containing 60 pre-designed home plans, a new eco-friendly building material, and a robotic printer facilitating multi-story construction.
