KU Leuven and PrintPlace produce 2m-wide SPIKA Parasite

In a fusion of structure, biotechnology, and additive manufacturing, SPIKA Parasite – an modern construction born from a collaboration between KU Leuven’s Division of Regenerative Structure and Belgian product improvement studio PrintPlace – will debut on the twenty fourth Triennale Milano Worldwide Exhibition.

The work, titled ‘Inequalities’ – which gathers visionary world tasks addressing pressing social, environmental, and concrete disparities – We the Micro organism: Notes Towards Biotic Structure, curated by Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley, consists of SPIKA as a central set up exploring how structure can have interaction with life on a microbial stage.

Designed by Professor Rachel Armstrong and her workforce at KU Leuven, SPIKA reimagines the potential of microbial hydroponics: a way of soil-free farming that makes use of useful micro organism to assist plant development. Moderately than counting on chemical fertilizers that harm ecosystems, SPIKA envisions a future the place wastewater is recycled into hydroponic installations and microbes nurture flora. Its design takes inspiration from a bacteriophage – a virus that infects and replicates inside micro organism – highlighting the dynamic and symbiotic relationships on the microscopic scale.

On the coronary heart of the set up is SPIKA Parasite, a large 3D printed natural construction, designed by Jannes Moons, PhD researcher underneath the supervision of Prof. Rachel Armstrong. Produced from greater than 100 3D printed parts, the complete construction spans roughly 2m in width and weighs 25kg. Produced by PrintPlace, of their Belgian studio, utilizing recycled PET, the complicated sculpture is suspended 4m above floor and is among the many largest 3D printed items to be showcased through the twenty fourth Triennale Milano Worldwide Exhibition.

SPIKA Parasite demonstrates how accessible desktop 3D printing can allow the conclusion of complicated, large-scale buildings, opening new prospects for compelling creative and architectural expression. The set up runs from 13 Might to 9 November 2025 at Triennale Milano.

For an additional instance of how artists are utilizing desktop 3D printers with restricted construct volumes to provide large-scale artworks, take a look at this text on Atang Tshikare’s 3m-long sculpture produced for the Time Out Market in Cape City, South Africa.