Unknown Unknowns: WASP's 3D printing exhibition opens in Milan

by Steven Gislam

Oneof the most important international events devoted to design and architecture, the 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition opened earlier this month, celebrating 100 years since its foundation and featuring a unique exhibition by 3D printing company WASP.

Triennale's thematic exhibition Unknown Unknowns examines a range of themes including:

• Gravity - “The greatest designer”, an artisan that tirelessly shakes the universe in which we live;

• Maps - Systems with which trajectories and routes are determined;

• New challenges facing architecture - The sector is opening itself up to brand new prospects such as extraterrestrial living and, ultimately, the mysteries linked to deep space.

With the ongoing themes of sustainability and reusability as a backdrop, Unknown Unknowns was designed by Space Caviar and produced by WASP. Created wholly using 3D printing with large printers on an architectural scale and with only organic materials, largely waste from the food industry. For the first time, the exhibition pieces were completely produced inside the museum itself, with 32 different pieces being printed in only 10 days.

Taking inspiration from the potter wasp, which builds its home using materials found on the spot, the company has been developing new, viable construction processes and techniques based on the principles of the circular economy to create 3D printed houses quickly and sustainably using biodegradable, recyclable and locally-sourced natural materials.

For this project WASP used the architectural 3D printer Crane WASP. It is a modular collaborative 3D printing system composed of a main printer unit that can be assembled in different configurations depending on the printing area and therefore on the dimensions of the architectural structure to be calculated in 3D.

For the needs of this specific setup, WASP transported and assembled Crane WASP within the museum and mixed the material near the printer on the first floor of the Triennale.

The company says that Unknown Unknowns is a "brilliant example of how WASP technology is declinable and multidisciplinary".

The thematic exhibition, Unknown Unknowns, is curated by Ersilia Vaudo, an astrophysicist and Chief Diversity Officer at the European Space Agency, and will be on display at the Triennale Milan until 11 December 2022.