Dior’s 3D printed Eco-structure houses a unique pop-up store

Christian Dior Couture teams with WASP for unique concept store.

On Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach stands a unique Dior installation composed of two circular modules. The fascinating architectural innovation houses a Dior pop-up store. These innovative spaces were crafted from natural materials –combining clay, sand and rawfibers –using an exceptional 3D printing system designed by WASP. The Eco-pop-up shop was 3D printed in 120 hours.

In a premiere, the French luxury house has designed a habitable structure in proportions never seen before. The cannage motif, a key House code for Dior, is revealed on the walls of this ephemeral boutique. Inside, creations celebrating the gentle life –notably from the Dioriviera women’s collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri – were revealed by turn in acidic hues.

The continually reinvented Dioriviera summer capsule by Maria Grazia Chiuri is like an invitation to escape. Plays on House codes – from toile de Jouy to the Dior Oblique motif – illuminate women’s ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories with punchy chartreuse and raspberry, pop punctuations from the Fall 2021 collection.

Iconic bags, such as the Dior Book Tote and the Dior Caro, mingle with the latest additions to the Dior 2022 cruise line, such as the Lady Dior in the horizontal East-West format and the Lady Dior Wicker baskets. Also on display are Dior Maison essentials including deckchairs, parasols, cushions and bottles adorned with Dior’s iconic Toile de Jouy print. The emblematic design also features on the lounge chairs facing this audacious showcase that carries the promise of a dreamy interlude.

WASP’s 3D printed Eco-structure was made using Crane WASP The Infinity 3d printer, a modular collaborative 3D printing system. Crane WASP reinterprets the classic building cranes from a digital manufacturing point of view. It is composed of a main printer unit that can be assembled in different configurations depending on the printing area and therefore on the dimensions of the architectural structure to be calculated in 3d. The print area of the single module is 6.60 meters in diameter for a height of 3 meters.

The single module can work self-sufficiently by printing fluids of different kinds: cement, bio cement, natural dough. Once you have a single module, you can expand it by adding traverses and printer arms, thus generating an infinite digital manufacturing system.

It is not necessary to “cover” the entire area involved in the construction with the printing area of the WASP Cranes because they can be reconfigured and can advance with generative attitude depending on the growth and shape of the building. More WASP Cranes, when working together, have a potentially infinite printing area and can be set by the on-site operators following the evolution of the architectural project.

Dior concept store (80 sq.m.) on Nammos Beach, Jumeirah, Dubai is open until 22 March 2022.