An inspiring 3D printing project presents levels upon levels of creative solutions. The structure was designed and created by architecture and design professors Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello and revealed in May of last year. It went on to recieve the 2018 3D Pioneers Challenge, and it’s clear to see why.
A classic wooden frame provides the basis for the variety of 3D printed elements, which come together to form a livable space that is completely weather tight. The front of the ‘Cabin of 3D Printed Curiosities’ is made up of 3D relief hexagonal tiles made out of local materials, including the skins of chardonnay grapes. Not only are the tiles decorative and dynamic, they have also been designed to be home to succulents, which thrive in the warm environment.
Around the rest of the cabin sit 4,500 3D printed ‘seed stitch’ tiles, which have been created to be easy to install. The ceramic tiles look similar to knitted fabric and are designed to hang elegantly from the building. The cabin’s interior is clad in a corn derived bio-plastic, adding another dynamic element due to its 3D relief and translucent nature which enables play with light, and is said to glow at night.
Various other furnishings in the cabin have also been made from eco-materials, including coffee cups created out of used coffee grounds. This liveable space is a breakthrough, not only for its design innovations and use of materials, but because of its implications of potential problem solving, especially for the Bay Area’s housing crisis.
Read more about the project here.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, December 2019.