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The Future with Metabolic Additive Construction

21 Nov 2025

Our Foresting Architecture project at EXPO2025 Osaka—a biodegradable, 3D‑printed pavilion recognized by Guinness on October 25, 2024—embodies Metabolic Additive Construction (MAC). Built entirely from biodegradable CAFBLO® resin, it demonstrates a sustainable loop: on-site manufacturing, recyclability, and community involvement.

Key Achievements

  • Structural resin frame: Cellulose-acetate CAFBLO® served as the load-bearing material—rare in architecture, with few global counterparts .
  • Seamless printing: A three-week monolithic print overcame thermal expansions and simplified finishing.
  • Regulatory approval: Approved as a temporary structure under Expo's building law—Japan’s first resin architecture to pass this step.
  • Biodegradability: Incorporates seed paper finishes and CAFBLO®, ensuring the pavilion naturally integrates into the environment post-use .
  • Closed-loop recycling: CAFBLO® pellets are recyclable on-site with no quality loss , reducing transport cost and environmental impact.

Materials & Waste Context

  • Globally, only ~9% of plastic is recycled; much of the rest is mismanaged .
  • MAC aims to process mixed, contaminated plastic waste on-site—turning chaos into building materials and addressing local housing and pollution challenges.

Community & Future Vision

  • MAC fosters local engagement—citizens collect and recycle materials, deepening connection with infrastructure. It acknowledges plastics’ dual nature as essential yet harmful, advocating intelligent control rather than avoidance.
  • This path extends beyond Pavilion: we envision automated design-to-print systems, resilient local networks using biodegradable materials, and a manufacturing model rooted in circularity, community, and environmental responsibility.

Presenter: Toki Hamasaki, CEO, Boolean Inc.
Co‑Speaker (tentative): Atsushi Yamazaki, Producer & Architect (Foresting Architecture, Takenaka)