---
title: "WASP completes Itaca sustainable 3D printed farm"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wasp-completes-itaca-a-sustainable-3d-printed-farm/
date: 2026-06-12
modified: 2026-06-12
lang: en
author: "Tess Boissonneault"
description: "Italian construction 3D printing company WASP has made big progress in the development of Shamballa, a utopian 3D printing laboratory and community where housing, food, healthcare, energy, and more will be..."
categories:
  - "Construction 3D Printing"
  - "Italy"
  - "Sustainability"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/itaca-2-640x360.jpeg
word_count: 377
---

# WASP completes Itaca sustainable 3D printed farm

Italian construction 3D printing company [WASP](https://www.3dprintingbusiness.directory/company/wasproject/) has made big progress in the [development of ](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wasp-shamballa-open-air-3d-printing-lab/)*[Shamballa](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wasp-shamballa-open-air-3d-printing-lab/), *a utopian 3D printing laboratory and community where housing, food, healthcare, energy, and more will be provided. The large-scale project—part of the company's founding mission—includes several infrastructure projects that will populate eight hectares of land in Northern Italy. One of these projects is now complete: Itaca, a self-sufficient 3D printed farm.

The Itaca project has had a couple of milestones since it broke ground in autumn 2025, including in last February when WASP finished building [Italy's first certified 3D printed residential structure](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wasp-completes-italys-first-certified-3d-printed-house-using-four-robotic-arms/) for the site. Now, the entire self-sufficient farm, which also includes a venue for educational activities and events, is complete. As the company says: "After years of research and development, we’re excited to share with you the completion of Itaca: the 3D printed self-sufficient farm and living model based on a circular micro-economy."

[![WASP completes Itaca, a sustainable 3D printed farm](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/itaca-1.jpeg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/itaca-1.jpeg)

Itaca's structures were built using the Crane WASP, a modular large-scale 3D printer engineered for concrete and other mortar materials. The residential farm structure, designed to house four people, integrates several self-sustaining features, including passive ventilation and vertical hydroponic systems that make year-round vegetable growing possible.

The 3D printed walls themselves have been made from a material based on pure NHL lime and Geolegante, an eco-friendly mineral binder developed by Kerakoll. This material mixture, chosen for having a smaller carbon footprint than traditional cement, has also been reinforced with rice husks (strategically placed in wall cavities) to improve thermal performance, ventilation, and insulation.

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/itaca-4-1.jpeg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/itaca-4-1.jpeg)

"Itaca represents a new construction model, designed for replication at national and international scale. Thanks to the Crane WASP printer, high standards of efficiency, adaptability, and design can be achieved," WASP commented. "Itaca stands as a symbol of innovation and technological development, as well as a research laboratory for a sustainable future."

While the project is conceived as a self-sustaining site, all structures built do still have to comply with Italian regulations and regional seismic standards. According to WASP, the 3D printed Itaca structures comply with these building codes and are both certified and replicable. When it opens, Itaca will invite experts in architectural 3D printing from all over the globe to come and develop further innovations in the realm of sustainable construction and living.