WASP aims to solve global housing shortage with its Maker Economy Starter Kit

Italian 3D printing company WASP has introduced the Maker Economy Starter Kit, a shipping container of 3D printing equipment for constructing houses. The kit includes six 3D printing systems, including the Big Delta and DeltaWASP 3MT 3D printers, as well as tools and raw materials.

3D printing is a broad and varied form of technology, but the goings-on at WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project) have always seemed a million miles away from what most additive-focused companies get up to. For example, you’re more likely to see the WASP team shoveling piles of mud and grass than fiddling with microchips in a lab, yet the company remains at the forefront of a particular substrate of the additive manufacturing world: sustainable, affordable, large-scale 3D printing.

WASP’s latest project is an attempt to show that people can create their own houses—walls, furniture, the lot—in a sustainable manner, one which benefits the owner of the house rather than some billionaire property developer. The project comes in the form of a shipping container packed with 3D printing equipment, enough for communities to start printing their own 3D printed structures, as WASP staff have been doing themselves at the Shamballa Technological Village. Included in the giant kit are six 3D printing systems, including the Big Delta 3D printer (one of the biggest operational 3D printers in the world) and the DeltaWASP 3MT, a ceramic 3D printer capable of printing objects up to one meter tall.

Italian 3D printing company WASP has introduced the Maker Economy Starter Kit, a shipping container of 3D printing equipment for constructing houses. The kit includes six 3D printing systems, including the Big Delta and DeltaWASP 3MT 3D printers, as well as tools and raw materials.

3D printing is a broad and varied form of technology, but the goings-on at WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project) have always seemed a million miles away from what most additive-focused companies get up to. For example, you’re more likely to see the WASP team shoveling piles of mud and grass than fiddling with microchips in a lab, yet the company remains at the forefront of a particular substrate of the additive manufacturing world: sustainable, affordable, large-scale 3D printing.

WASP’s latest project is an attempt to show that people can create their own houses—walls, furniture, the lot—in a sustainable manner, one which benefits the owner of the house rather than some billionaire property developer. The project comes in the form of a shipping container packed with 3D printing equipment, enough for communities to start printing their own 3D printed structures, as WASP staff have been doing themselves at the Shamballa Technological Village. Included in the giant kit are six 3D printing systems, including the Big Delta 3D printer (one of the biggest operational 3D printers in the world) and the DeltaWASP 3MT, a ceramic 3D printer capable of printing objects up to one meter tall.

According to WASP, the Maker Economy Starter Kit has been designed so that communities can fabricate structures using local materials, either natural or recycled. However, the 3D printing equipment contained in the kit can also be used with regular materials. In order to help those attempting to build with non-specialist materials, WASP will even provide a series of free online tutorials detailing how the equipment and materials can be used most efficiently. The company will also provide plans for a specific house design, but all content is open source, allowing engineers, designers, and architects to take charge of their own projects.

In addition to the 3D printers themselves, the Maker Economy Starter Kit will contain cutting tools, material preparation tools, power supply systems, material recycling systems, and other items needed to build sustainable structures. According to WASP, the completeness of the kit will help communities adopt the “Maker Economy,” an economical model which prescribes using only the materials needed, producing little to no waste and taking full advantage of any recycling opportunities. This model is already being tested at the company’s Shamballa site, and could be adopted worldwide to provide solutions to housing problems