Suitability of Sustainable 3D-Printing in the field of Yacht Design: Houseboats for Student Communities and Tourism

Abstract

Issue relating the vertiginous growth of population, the effects caused by climate change fall-out, as ground consuption represents an important opportunity for the design research community. The adoption of sustainable strategies to solve the problem of high densification of the existing urban fabric with new public functions, housing or tourist accommodation, can introduce new experimentations, by the adoption of unused “ground”, through the application of solutions with low environmental impact and controlled consumption of energy and resources, different contexts such as water. Living on water qualifies as a long-established reality in the contemporary contexts, and many cultures, a global widespread heritage. At the same time, mobility on waterways is a formidable cultural and economic challenge: a developing model based exploring on the alliance between the experimentation of the nautical product and an environmental reflection conducted in terms of enhancing marine, river and lake environments. As the vision suggest, designers provide to develop innovative and futuristic housing models at various scales of intervention. Among the possible interventions, this design research explored the concept of sustainable 3D printed houseboats taking care of diversified target, like student communities or tourists, being careful to ergonomics, safety, enhancement of the natural heritage; the case study focused on using 3D printing production processes using natural fibers, and how the entire process can contribute to to define new interpretative models, new product morphologies, new languages. The result presented in the document provides evidence and validity on the use of sustainable 3D printing production processes for sustainable products, as a good opportunity and intelligent solution adaptable to the conditions imposed by a specific context, with the aim of opening new avenues of research for the design community.