World’s tallest 3D-printed tower unveiled in Switzerland
Tor Alva, one of the world’s tallest 3D-printed structures, was unveiled in the small Swiss village of Mulegns on May 21, 2025. Meaning 'White Tower' in the Swiss regional language of Romansh, the nearly 30-meter-high, white concrete tower, a collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Origen cultural foundation, showcases advanced digital construction techniques. They say it is the world's tallest 3D-printed tower. Designed to serve as a cultural hub, the tower aims to revitalize the village, which is home to just 11 residents and faces depopulation. The structure, built without traditional formwork, features 32 sculptured concrete columns created through robotic additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. A novel concrete mixture and a new reinforcement method, developed by ETH researchers, enable the tower’s load-bearing capacity.
REUTERS / BIRDVIEWPICTURE / ETH ZURICH / DIGITAL BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES
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00:26I am Walter Kaufmann, Professor of Structural Engineering at ETH Zurich and the Chair of
00:55concrete structures and bridge design. Tor Aula is a 30-meter tall 3D printed concrete tower in the small village of Mullens on the Jullier Pass near St. Moritz in Switzerland. That tower is actually a multi-story building, four stories, consists of the respective floors and 32 3D printed concrete columns.
01:22We really managed to integrate the reinforcement in the 3D printed concrete, such that it actually works like conventional reinforced concrete, although by its nature it's quite different.
01:36On the material side, it's the mix that we're using, which is a three-component mix where we add a viscosity enhancer and an accelerator to the pumped mortar only at the nozzle.
01:49So the viscosity enhancer keeping the concrete from flowing just down and the accelerator ensuring sufficient strength build up until the printed returns and then also for the subsequent layers of concrete so that the structure doesn't collapse.
02:04And the third is on the robotic level where we manage to achieve a fully robotic integration of the transverse interlayer reinforcement during the print process. So collaboration of the printing robot with the reinforcement placing robot.
02:20I think that's the three main innovations. So to ensure that the tower can be dismounted and reassembled, it consists of several pieces which are similar to prefabricated concrete actually, which are then brought to site and bolted together with bolts that you could actually tighten to fix it and then also just loosen and take the pieces apart.
02:48Yeah, the process is scalable. I'm a bit skeptical where they will bring it to construction site and if you cannot bring it just because of the robustness of the process with the harsh conditions that you will encounter in most construction sites.
03:02So it will be scalable to the point similar as prefabricated elements are and then these components will be assembled on site.
03:18Can you all be tons Muchas können?
03:19Ok.
03:20Justifications.
03:21Yeah, it will a little bit see plaid土 And you see anything in Kerry edit it.
