3D printed bioceramic bricks give new life to eggshell waste as building materials
MANUFACTURA uses robotic 3D printing to minimize organic waste and adapt sustainable construction methods.
the eggshell project: manufactura gives new life to biowaste
The Eggshell Project (Un Proyecto de Huevo) led by Mexico-based design studio MANUFACTURA transforms organic waste into a building material, opening up new possibilities to root our living in environmental responsibility. The research project adapts a sustainable approach to ceramics, 3D printing a bioceramic made from used eggshells and combining it with sustainable aggregates using a KUKA KR-150 robotic arm.
Together, the process gives shape to building blocks with different geometries which can be utilized for different architectural applications. This new sustainable materiality seeks to reduce the abundant level of food and organic waste in Mexico while generating new opportunities through technology and innovation, and fostering a new dialogue between man and machine.
robotic 3d printing for large-scale precision
The Eggshell Project begins with addressing two issues: the harmful environmental effects of the ceramics industry, and the extreme level of waste of food and organic matter in Mexico. MANUFACTURA recalls the toll that ceramics processes can take on our environment — from their gas emissions from firing and fuels to their waste management, transportation, and energy consumption.
Re-evaluating the industry’s potential and maintaining a connection between materiality and nature, the design team minimized the process’ negative impact by using a locally sourced, extensively found, and lightweight waste product: eggshells. Together with bio-binders, the mixture is able to solidify without the need of firing, further enhanced by an additive fabrication process based on 3D printing with a robotic arm. ‘Our process allows less waste production, geometrical freedom, precision and repeatability,’ notes the team at MANUFACTURA.
sustainable construction from bioceramics
In the research, MANUFACTURA focused on creating construction materials, making two key applications: the Eggshell Bricks Wall made of a total of 105 different blocks that are assembled based on their geometry, and the Eggshell Column made of 26 pieces that embrace one another and create stability through their shape. Each brick is made in a 100% sustainable and circular process, since the raw material was obtained through the donation of waste from more in over two months of production from various restaurants in Mexico City.
This project was achieved thanks to the mixture of computational design and the opportunities offered by digital manufacturing, technology, and materials innovation to transform our waste and raise awareness. Ultimately, MANUFACTURA questions our manufacturing methods and instead attempts to create circular systems of producing and living, meanwhile generating new sources of employment. The Eggshell Project process creates new opportunities through its recycling, sanitization, manufacturing, and site construction methods.
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project info:
name: The Eggshell Project
designer: MANUFACTURA
design team: Dinorah Schulte (co-founder / project director), Edurne Morales (co-founder / computational designer), Eduardo Barba (co-founder), Montserrat Ayala (material research), Maria Pia Assaf (guest designer)
collaborators: Santiago Rangel, Aleida Rahel Merkel, Natalia Juan
designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
