Materials
3 March 2023
Design has definitely entered a new era. 3D printing, an additive manufacturing process (as opposed to traditional subtractive techniques), is opening up new horizons in production methods. Shapes and details, even the finest, come to life layer by layer thanks to a plethora of virtuous materials (sand, bioplastics, corn starch, sugar cane, clay, nylon) and a variety of lavish processes (molten filament deposition, stereolithography, laser sintering, PolyJet process).
The new wave of designers (Komut, Argot Studio, Supertoys Supertoys, Olivier van Herpt), architects (Mario Cucinella Architects, HANNAH Design Office) and creators (ANNAKIKI, Iris Van Herpen, Daniel Widrig) have understood this. It sees 3D printing as a new way of expressing its creativity with more ecological impact and aesthetic possibilities. A real goldmine for experimentation that blurs the boundaries between art and design, craft and technology. Let’s decipher.
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Tool
PRINTER
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Manufacturing
ADDITIVE
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Production
GREEN
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Forms
INFINITY
A virtuous process, between upcycling and bio-materiality
Material libraries are being disrupted and renewed through 3D printing. In addition to its infinite plastic possibilities, additive manufacturing offers opportunities in waste recycling. From polylactic acid from food packaging transformed into office accessories by Pearson Lloyd and Batch Works to Interesting Times Gang’s chairs printed from a composite of recycled fishing nets and wood fibre: nothing is lost, everything is transformed.
Recycled plastic from Komut Studio
There is also the furniture of Komut, a French label created by Philippe Tissot and YuTyng Chiu that prints each of its pieces locally in France from 100% recycled and recyclable plastic. It is transformed into a melted monomaterial then shaped into a spiral following simple organic and ergonomic lines.
The organic materials of Argot Studio
Additive manufacturing is also a way to add value to bio-materials. Argot Studio knows all about it. From a former Schneider factory in Paris, its founder, Eimear Ryan, imagines soft and poetic creations extruded from a polylactic acid derived from corn or sugar cane starch. Her process is as inspiring as it is innovative: a heated nozzle deposits successive layers of molten material. After several hours of digital work, this gradual deposition ends up forming a part.
Metamorphosing sand
Supertoys Supertoys makes objects that look like they came out of a 3D set, yet are real thanks to printing. The Dutch studio has created a series of pieces consisting of lighting fixtures and a pocket tray made from extruded sand with a rough finish. Studio Ilio is no stranger to this approach, creating decorative objects with unexplored shapes from a mixture of nylon powder and silica sand.
The beginnings of a digital craft
From this ever more advanced exploration of the material and its working by the 3D printer, a new digital craft is born, halfway between tradition and innovation. In particular, it is the ancestral modelling of clay that is being disrupted by contemporary architects and designers: Mario Cucinella Architects; Arthur Mamou-Mani; bold, 8Fablab and Emmanuelle Roule, Jolie Ngo or Hanna Design Office. They completely rethink production and construction approaches while paying homage to ancient aesthetics.
Olivier van Herpt’s 3D earthenware
Using paraffin and clay, Dutch designer Olivier van Herpt prints ceramics inspired by Delft earthenware, a Dutch craft inherited from the 17th century. Using a self-made printer, he creates custom-made pieces that can be up to 90 cm high, with shapes that imitate the hand’s gesture and reveal extremely thin yet solid walls.
Jolie Ngo’s playful porcelain creations
When fiction becomes reality
In fashion, as in design and architecture, 3D printing allows for complex shapes and extremely fine details that cannot be produced by hand or industrially. This is a godsend for designers who create pieces with organic and sensual lines and aesthetics, almost out of this world. Iris Van Herpen, Wang & Söderstrom and Studio Ilio are masters in this field.
3 insta accounts to follow
Three-dimensional lines, translucent materials, moving effects… Designers like Joris Laarman, Argot or Sam Buckley and Anthony Authié imagine the parts of the future. They bring science fiction fantasies to life and turn their 3D models from dream to reality using additive manufacturing. Utopia or dystopia?
Egeo, Greek restaurant in Spain by Masquespacio © Sebastian Erras
