In Ecuador, an entire village has been planned using renewable construction materials, including 3-D-printed cacao waste.
Complete with an education and research center and chocolate factory, Cacao Eco Village was conceived by Sydney-based architecture studio Valentino Gareri Atelier at the behest of chocolate manufacturer MUZE Cacao. The village is planned for the seaside town of Pedernales.
“We have pushed the circular economy core principles so much that they informed the design philosophy of the entire project,” Valentino Gareri, founder of Valentino Gareri Atelier, tells 3D Natives. “The cacao waste, result of the chocolate production process, will be re-utilized for 3D-printing parts of the village. Waste is not only turned into a resource, but into architecture. In the not-too-distant future, we will be able to design buildings entirely made of natural materials and recycle them at the end of their life cycle in order either to create new ones, or to return them back to nature.”
The shells of cacao beans, which comprise 80% of cocoa waste, will be used to make a bioplastic for 3D printing. Other local materials, such as wood and bamboo, are also envisioned in the design.
Valentino Gareri Atelier expects the site to become the “Silicon Valley” for circular economy innovators and a “destination and co-living space for change-makers to connect, co-create, get inspired, and ignite social impact.”