When Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern 3D Printing

For centuries, people in hot climates have used porous clay vessels to keep water cool. The principle is simple: when water evaporates from a clay surface, it absorbs heat from its surroundings, naturally lowering the temperature. Now, researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria have taken this age-old concept and supercharged it with 3D printing technology — creating ceramic cooling cubes that could help cities beat the heat without energy-hungry air conditioning.

The project, led by Milena Stavric at TU Graz’s Institute of Architecture and Media, demonstrates how additive manufacturing can transform traditional building materials into high-performance cooling systems. Each cube measures about 23 centimeters per side and is 3D printed from a ceramic clay mixture, then fired at low temperatures to achieve a highly porous consistency.

How TPMS Geometry Makes It Work

The secret behind the cooling cubes lies in their geometry. The team uses triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) — a mathematical structure that maximizes surface area while minimizing material usage. This means each cube creates an enormous evaporation surface inside its compact form. Water is drawn into the porous ceramic by capillary forces and distributed evenly throughout the complex internal geometry, enabling continuous evaporation that pulls heat from the surrounding air.

In field tests conducted in a hot attic at TU Graz, the cooling effect was dramatic: a temperature drop of nearly seven degrees Celsius was measured in the immediate vicinity of a water-filled cube. “The cooling effect was clearly noticeable throughout the room,” said Kristijan Ristoski, who wrote his Master’s thesis on integrating the cubes into a functional cooling wall system.

Bio-Inspired Materials: Fungi and Lake Sediment

The team isn’t stopping at basic ceramic. In TU Graz’s Shape Lab, researchers are experimenting with bio-inspired approaches that push the cooling performance even further. By adding fungal cultures and sawdust to the clay mixture, they create a material where mycelium — the thread-like network of fungal filaments — grows into the ceramic body.

When the mixture is 3D printed and fired, the organic materials burn away, leaving behind an intricate network of micro- and macro-pores. These pores allow water to spread more effectively throughout the cube, significantly boosting the evaporative cooling capacity.

Even more intriguing is the team’s use of sediment from Lake Neusiedl, a shallow lake that requires regular dredging to prevent silting. Rather than disposing of this material, the researchers are integrating it into their 3D printing clay blends — turning waste into a sustainable building material.

From Lab to City Streets

A two-by-two-meter demonstration wall has been erected at TU Graz’s Campus Neue Technik in Stremayrgasse, where visitors can experience the cooling effect firsthand. The technology is also on display at the Museum of Perception in Graz.

The potential applications are wide-ranging: residential and office buildings, schools, public spaces, waiting areas, and anywhere urban heat islands make outdoor conditions uncomfortable. Unlike conventional air conditioning, ceramic cooling walls consume no electricity and produce no greenhouse gas emissions during operation.

“Our aim is to provide cooling where people suffer particularly from the heat — for example, in cities where trees are sometimes unable to provide sufficient cooling,” Stavric explained. “To achieve this, we rely on natural cooling principles rather than energy-intensive air-conditioning technology.”

What This Means for 3D Printing and Sustainable Architecture

This project highlights a growing trend in the 3D printing industry: using additive manufacturing not just for prototyping or small-batch production, but for creating functional building materials with properties impossible to achieve through traditional manufacturing. The TPMS geometry that makes these cooling cubes so effective would be extremely difficult — if not impossible — to produce with conventional ceramic molding techniques.

For the custom 3D printing industry, projects like this demonstrate the expanding capabilities of ceramic and clay-based additive manufacturing. As the technology matures, we may see 3D-printed architectural elements become a standard feature in sustainable building design, from cooling facades to acoustic panels to structural components with optimized thermal properties.

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Conclusion

TU Graz’s 3D-printed ceramic cooling walls represent a fascinating convergence of ancient cooling wisdom and cutting-edge additive manufacturing. By combining TPMS geometry, bio-inspired materials, and sustainable resource use, the research team has created a technology that could genuinely help cities adapt to rising temperatures. As 3D printing continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in architecture and construction, projects like this remind us that the most impactful innovations often come from reimagining the simplest ideas.