Just a few years ago the talk was about 3D printing changing the design industry. Architectural studios purchased 3D printers to create models for prototyping and it seemed the 3D printing of buildings themselves was just around the corner.
Romance vs. reality for 3D printers
While 3D printing was projected to replace physical modeling for designers, the first generations of 3D printers were difficult to use. Not only was there the cost of supplies, but the bigger investment was in time spent to adjust the computer model for printing. And since the printers were slow, a mistake in the model might not be seen for hours. Then the process would stop and have to start all over again.
... the bigger investment was in time spent to adjust the computer model for printing. And since the printers were slow, a mistake in the model might not be seen for hours.
Though it was possible to create great physical models with a 3D printer, many times the result just wasn’t worth the investment. (And often 3D printers got relegated to the marketing team where they were used to create small plastic promotional products.)
It isn’t unusual for new technology to have an awkward phase, but 3D printers in design firms were going through theirs just as another 3D modeling tool was rapidly dropping in price.
VR sweeps through the design industry
Architects use physical models to help clients conceptualize a space before it is built. When the client can see the design in 3D—even at small scale—it facilitates conversations about how the space will work. However, virtual reality (VR) models accomplish the same thing. But they replicate the room at scale.
Initially, these VR models required a visualization firm to create them. But in the summer of 2016, Autodesk launched Autodesk LIVE, which gave Revit users the ability to transform their designs into fully interactive 3D models. This allowed architects using Revit to quickly publish models themselves without going through a third party. On a similar timeline, Sketchup apps were also helping designers get to VR quickly.
... in the summer of 2016, Autodesk launched Autodesk LIVE, which gave Revit users the ability to transform their designs into fully interactive 3D models. This allowed architects using Revit to quickly publish models themselves without going through a third party.
Design teams began using VR in-house to test their own designs, rapidly making adjustments as needed within their own team and in design charrettes with clients. And more importantly, the clients found the virtual models much easier to understand than the smaller, physical ones because it allowed them to walk the space.
The future of 3D printing
The big promise of 3D printing is on a large scale for construction and manufacturing. The terminology is Additive Manufacturing (AM) or Construction 3D Printing (c3Dp).
While there is a lot of hype about what’s coming in the future for 3D printing, here’s some of what’s already happened:
* The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., is home to the Consortium for Research and Robotics, which creates space for designers and makers to experiment and innovate—including with robotics and 3D printing. In 2013, student Oliver Allaux used CNC Milling and 3D printing technologies in his Methods and Materials class to build a working Stradivarius violin.
* In 2014, Arup created a redesign of a steel node for a lightweight structure using additive manufacturing.
* In 2016, SHoP Architects created a 3D-printed pavilion for the annual Design Miami fair. Thornton Tomasetti analyzed the structures, considered at the time to be among the largest 3D-printed objects ever produced.
* In 2017, Apis Cors demonstrated the printing of an entire 400-square-foot house, created in just 24 hours, at a test facility in the town of Stupino, Russia.
* In 2018, ICON was the first in the United States to secure a building permit for a 3D-printed home. The house in Austin, Texas, was printed in a just a few weeks and shown as proof-of-concept at the SXSW conference.
In 2019, 3D printing for construction and fabrication moved from proof-of-concept to stronger real-world applications:
- Multinational construction and development company, Skanska, 3D-printed curved tree planters (designed by Artefatto Design Studio, London) for a highways project in Lincolnshire, UK. Concrete was pumped through a nozzle guided by robotics to form a predetermined shape bypassing the need for forms and making the complex geometry possible.
- A new 12-meter long 3D printed stainless steel bridge with curved, raw steel balustrades developed by Dutch technology start-up MX3D together with designers Joris Laarman Lab and other collaborators is installed in Amsterdam.
- According to Sporttechie, “When NASCAR holds one of its final races of the season at Texas Motor Speedway, several of the cars will feature components that were made by a 3D printer. The same will be true of next year’s America’s Cup, which will see the debut of the fastest-ever catamaran, the AC75. Printed parts are no longer a hypothetical in sports: they’re making their way onto the fields of play.”
3D printing for construction isn’t mainstream yet, but it’s not far off
Right now, unique shapes and one-off components are expensive. Standardization and mass market production make constructing things affordable. The promise of 3D printing is the ability to not only achieve high levels of customization but to also produce complex geometry--unleashing creative possibilities for designers not currently possible with existing means and methods.
Another promised advantage is fabrication in the field with critical components being printed onsite.
So, are we there yet with 3D printing? Not quite.
But based on what’s happened so far, it isn’t very far away.
