Jun 25, 2018 | By Thomas

Students from ETH Zurich created a beautiful and intricate metal facade using 3D printed molds. Called "Deep Facade", the sculpture-like structure is made of 26 articulated panels, is six metres high and four metres wide.

Deep Facade is an aluminium structure with "ribbons of metal looped in an organic fashion that recalls the folds of the brain's cerebral cortex". Developed by masters students on the Architecture and Digital Fabrication course working with senior ETH Zurich senior researcher Mania Aghaei Meibodi, this experimental metal facade combines “the geometric freedom of 3D printing with the structural properties of cast metal.”

Deep Facad follows on from another work created by last year's students – the Digital Metal Pavilion, whose large scale matel parts were molded from aluminum using 3D-printed sand casts. Using 3D printing and computational design method known as topology optimisation, it is now possible for designers to fabricate lightweight, bespoke structural metal parts with details and geometric complexity.

The Deep Facade mimics the development of certain living organisms, and the design is meant to highlight the "liquidity and strength" of metal, the section which could not have been rendered using other materials such as sandstone or concrete.

With the convenience of the 3D printing technology, computational design and robotic fabrication, the students from ETH Zurich aim to explore how "3D printing can be used to create bespoke metal building materials."

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

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