Façade Ideas #4 | 3D Printed Façades
3D Printing the Future of Façades
Can a façade component be designed, optimised and manufactured within a single digital workflow?
At OpenFace Day 2026, Juan Diego Vargas from Politecnico di Torino presented WASPer_3DP, an open framework that connects computational design, performance assessment and additive manufacturing for façade components.
Designing for additive manufacturing
Unlike conventional construction methods, additive manufacturing allows façade elements to be tailored to specific performance requirements while reducing material waste.
WASPer_3DP helps designers move seamlessly from concept to fabrication by integrating geometry, performance simulation and manufacturing constraints into one parametric workflow.
The project focuses on opaque façade components featuring advanced cellular geometries, including triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS), polyhedral structures and hybrid morphologies.
Rather than treating geometry as a final outcome, WASPer_3DP makes it the common language between architectural design, environmental performance and fabrication.
About the author
Juan Diego Vargas is a PhD researcher at Politecnico di Torino, working across the Departments of Energy (DENERG) and Architecture and Design (DAD). His research focuses on Design for Additive Manufacturing methodologies for 3D-printed building envelope components.