www.3ders.org

Sep 25, 2015 | By Tess

Since 3D printing’s inception it has gone hand in hand with design, as the two terms are almost inextricable these days. It is no wonder then that young designers keep coming up with impressive design models that incorporate 3D printing technology.

Recently, 21 year old interior and furniture design student from Belgium, Simon Philips, has garnered attention for his thesis project: a sleek table design which features 3D printed design elements. The table, a simple yet elegant design, consists of a light wooden table top with sleek black, criss-crossed legs, and white 3D printed link or donut shaped accents that are placed where the table legs meet. 

Simon Philips, an enthusiastic interior design student with a passion for music and biking, has focused on mathematical geometry throughout his academic design career and this table is a product of this interest, as can be discerned from the strict 90 degree angles he employs in his table design, and the linked donut shapes he incorporates. 

Philips explains that he gained inspiration for his table’s design when he visited the Biennale Interieur, a major international design exhibition held once every two years in Kortrijk, Belgium. There, he was particularly marked by two featured designers’s work: Minale Maeda’s Keystone Table, and Japanese designer Keizo Ushio’s granite sculpture Oushi Zokei.

Minale Maeda’s Keystone Table (left) and Japanese designer Keizo Ushio’s granite sculpture Oushi Zokei (right)

Based off of these two pieces, Philips began to fashion his own idea for a table design, one that would also utilize additive manufacturing. He explains, “To make a long story short, I combined a piece of art with modern 3D printing techniques. Of course I had to do a lot of research on the shape as well as on the possibilities of 3D printing. Because the shape already existed, I had to figure out how I could use it as a constructive piece in furniture.” 

This is where his affinity for mathematical geometry came particularly in handy, as Simon had to construct the table to fit both his aesthetic vision while maintaining the practical aspects of a table. He carefully designed the tori (the mathematical name for the donut shapes) so that they connected at a 90 degree angle, allowing them to lock into one another. In order to achieve this, Philips had to make sure the diameter of the tori were matched with the size of the hole in the middle. 

In order to ensure that the table would be steady and strong, Philips also constructed the table in a way that would be load bearing. He explains, “Once I got the basic shape and the appropriate material for the 3D print, a hidden construction in my tabletop had to be made to ensure that the tori didn’t have to bear all the weight while the table is in use. The two round frames I’ve put through the tori had to be blocked at a specific point so they couldn’t go any further than ninety degrees.”

To design the tori Simon used SketchUp, a popular 3D modeling software. To facilitate the design he split the torus into four separate parts. He says of the process, “I drew them independent from each other but put them in the right position afterwards. This was all done in SketchUp.”  Once the design for the tori were completed, Simon was ready to 3D print them.

Philips did extensive research to find which material would best suit his table design, all the while keeping in mind such factors as flexibility, strength, cost, and durability. After considering all these elements, Philips opted to 3D print the tori from Polyamide or nylon material. Polyamide, a strong yet still relatively flexible material, was also ideal because of its ability to be painted and color finished.

Once the design process was nearing completion, Philips exported the .skp file he was working with to a .3ds file which he subsequently transferred to Cinema 4D where he put the final touches on the tori.

Finally, Philips ordered his 3D printed parts to be manufactured by online 3D printing service i.materialise and was able to put his table design together.

The final product, an elegant mix of wooden and 3D printing components is surely the beginning of a promising career in furniture design for student Simon Philips.  

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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