MIT Professor Neri Oxman pushes 3D printing in art and manufacturing

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Jun.8, 2012

Architect and designer Neri Oxman is assistant professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab. She is best known for her work in environmental design and digital morphogenesis. Currently she directs the Mediated Matter research group to explore "how digital design and fabrication technologies mediate between matter and environment to radically transform the design and construction of objects, buildings, and systems".

Neri Oxman is a talented artist, she was trained as an architect and she is also a designer, engineer and innovator. Her biggest interests is to break the conventional design by combining 3D printing, an 'additive' manufacturing process with design algorithms inspired from nature.

As part of the Multiversités Créatives exhibition, Neri Oxman presented Imaginary Beings: Mythologies of the Not Yet, totally 18 new pieces at the Centre Pompidou in Paris this May. Her creations are demonstrating how powerful 3D printing is - only with 3D printer it is now possible to create surprising patterns and structures of nature.

The Objet Connex multi-material 3D printer she uses allows her to shape the internal properties of objects using combination of materials. "Our goal is to enhance the relation between natural and man-made environments by achieving high degrees of design customization and versatility, environmental performance integration, and material efficiency.", indicated by Mediated Matter group.

In this insightful interview below, Neri Oxman explains the differences between 'additive' and 'subtractive' manufacturing, and 3D printing within the wider paradigm shift in technology and manufacturing - comparing it to the Gutenberg 2D print revolution of the 1440's.