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mk · 4804 days ago · link · · parent · post: 3D Printing is Advancing by Leaps and Bounds: Replicators anyone?
I'm extremely excited about 3D printing. I just saw my first one a couple of weeks ago. IMHO it will change our world to an extent that matches the computer.
One simple thing that I am excited about is that decoration can return to design. I'm getting sick of factory-driven sleekness. I don't want a minimalist apple LED, I want a gargoyle face carved into my laptop case.
I, for one, love the simplicity of the minimalist apple design. I hate baroque over design. But that said, each his own. I'm just excited because of the possibility of leveling society this presents. If every home has a 3D printer that can print, well, just about anything. Then suddenly material wealth doesn't matter so much any more. It's still not quite the star trek replicator, in that you'll have to have the proper 'ink' cartridge to print things, instead of just using energy. But even before we get the printer in every home this could lead to huge advances in manufacturing automation.
As an architecture student with an interest in digital fabrication and experience with some of the newest 3D printers and prototype materials, i'm pretty interested in this kind of technology. The exactness of CADCAM processes could well represent a return to a kind of hyper-baroque ornamentation. Have a look at this work by Michael Hansmeyer - a series of columns articulated through subdivision algorithms and fabricated from sheets of laminated laser-cut 0.5mm cardboard. A 'sixth order' of architecture, for a digital future.
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/16587/michael-ha...
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>The exactness of CADCAM processes could well represent a return to a kind of hyper-baroque ornamentation.
I too, am very excited about that. It's like a pressure valve on possibilities has been released. I have to say that Hansmeyer's work is almost horrifically organic, but it's definitely interesting. Not only can people explore designs, but we can write programs that do so.
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Well, he's authoring a process rather than an outcome. I guess the columns reflect that.
Andrew Kudless also does a lot of cool d-fab projects: http://matsysdesign.com/ . Not so much 3d printing but it's a similar application of new technology.