The world’s tallest 3D-printed tower.
26.05.2025A few days ago, the world’s tallest 3D-printed building was officially inaugurated. And for once, such an innovative premiere is not taking place in Silicon Valley or a hip metropolis, but high up in the Swiss mountains: in the small village of Mulegns in the canton of Graubünden. The tower, called “Tor Alva,” is 30 meters high and shimmers white above the pretty mountain village, which has been attracting the attention of the world for years with small and large innovations.
The creative work shows how digital construction enables load-bearing structures without formwork.
Initiated by the Nova Fundaziun Origen cultural foundation in collaboration with ETH Zurich, the building is intended to provide cultural impetus and revitalize the village, which is threatened by depopulation, according to the ETH website.
The ETH writes: “Visitors from all over Switzerland and abroad have come to see the White Tower in real life for the first time. The covering was only removed by helicopter on the eve of the opening, revealing the structure, which now blends into the mountain landscape of the Julier Pass with its white, filigree design.
With the “Tor Alva,” the mountain village, which is threatened by depopulation – only 11 people now live in Mulegns – is gaining a new architectural landmark and a pioneering building in digital fabrication. The Nova Fundaziun Origen cultural foundation realized the project as the client in collaboration with ETH Zurich. Origen hopes that this will provide cultural impetus to revitalize the village. Guided tours of the White Tower will be offered daily starting on May 23, and from July onwards it will also serve as a venue for theatrical performances. The White Tower in Mulegns is expected to remain standing for around five years. After that, it can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere.
Tower commemorates the emigration of Graubünden confectioners
According to the ETH, the structure’s shape is reminiscent of a confectioner’s cake, a reference to the history of emigration of Graubünden confectioners, who once worked throughout Europe from here.
It continues: “Across four floors, 32 sculptural columns of white concrete rise upwards, becoming increasingly slender and branched until they fan out almost like trees in the domed space.”
The creative minds behind the structure are architect Michael Hansmeyer and ETH professor of digital construction technologies Benjamin Dillenburger, whose concept was implemented by two robots, layer by layer in an additive manufacturing process using concrete specially developed for this purpose.
The column elements were printed over a period of five months at the ETH campus in Hönggerberg, then assembled in Savognin and transported from there by heavy goods vehicles via the Julierstrasse to Mulegns (more on this in this report).
You can read the full ETH article about this groundbreaking project with lots of technical details here. And you can find out more about this world record in a small mountain village at Tor Alva, Michael Hansmeyer, in the NZZ, in the online architecture magazine dezeen, at Euronews, and at BauNetz, among others.