WASP 3D prints Dropcity for Milan Design Week

In 1960, an artistic and counter-cultural community emerged in Colorado, USA, with the first “Drop City”, which set itself the goal of exploring new ways of living in harmony with nature. This found expression in art and architecture. Today, several generations after the original American Drop City, a new center for progressive thinking in architecture and design is emerging under the tracks of Milan Central Station: Dropcity.

This new initiative establishes a place to meet and discuss architecture, design and the contemporary city. WASP is participating in the project in 2024 by restoring and setting up its own operations center within Dropcity.

During the “Dropcity in-progress” event at Milan Design Week, WASP will begin renovating Tunnel 54. 3D printers will be used on site to produce furniture and office equipment for the renovated spaces. The long-abandoned tunnels will be transformed into research centers and open-space offices that promote values such as sustainable development, open-source sharing and technological progress.

From April 12 to 21, WASP’s 3D printing site in Milan will open its doors to the public. The technologies will be presented in action and restoration work will begin in preparation for the official opening of the operations center in October. At the center of the tunnel, the Crane WASP architectural 3D printer will be used to produce multifunctional wall modules that will serve as workstations. For the first time, an experimental printer model, the Crane WASP Scara, will print directly in the tunnel on its walls to introduce a new approach to architectural 3D printing for building facades.

At the same time, a Clay 3D Printing Farm, consisting of a series of WASP 40100 Production printers, will be used to build architectural elements. These modules will be mass-produced using WASP’s customized serial production system, enabling automated production of ceramic products with different designs in large quantities around the clock.

The event will take place at Via Giovanni Battista Sammartini 54, Milan, within Dropcity, during the Salone del Mobile, from April 12 to 21.