News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
IAAC, the Institute for Advanced Architecture, continues its research towards 3D printing architecture with local earthen materials by completing a housing prototype in the natural park of Collseolla, in the outskirts of Barcelona, this winter. The result is a small constructed prototype with 100% natural and locally sourced material recipes that will be inaugurated with a live event on February 28th [register here].
Southeast Asia-based Siam Cement Group (SCG), one of the largest cement companies in the world, is now a distributor of COBOD 3D construction printers in Thailand and beyond. SCG previously used other printers to experiment with concrete 3D printing and produce various prototypes but the company has now turned to COBOD as means to increase large-scale production capabilities.
A rural house in north China’s Hebei Province has been catapulted into fame recently for being the first 3D printed house in this rural area of China, built “scan by scan” with giant construction 3D printers.
Pipelife is the first company to apply automated 3D printing and software to produce customized manhole and inspection chamber flow profiles for drainage systems. After a great deal of development work since the first printer was introduced 1.5 years ago, Pipelife is preparing to roll out 3D printing to the whole Group. This will significantly improve efficiency and precision in the production of polypropylene (PP) flow profiles, ensuring clients increased availability and product quality.
Concrete 3D printing of building shells has grown considerably in the last few years, with more and more building shells being 3D printed, even buildings with up to 3 floors and windmill towers. However, the high cost of 3D printing mortars has prevented more widespread and large-scale application on multi-unit projects, including large-scale affordable housing projects. This is about to change as CEMEX, in cooperation 3D construction printer supplier COBOD, developed the new D.fab solution for rapid development of cost-effective concrete 3D printing materials.
Activities are set to intensify in 2022, as we get closer to the date (2024) that ESA and NASA have planned for humanity’s return to the Moon. The ESA Discovery program has been supporting groups from industry and academia to develop technologies for off-Earth manufacturing. Last November, a public online symposium presented their latest results and highlighted which technologies are most promising for maturing further towards integration into future space missions.
Bart Kellerhuis the creative director of Zecc Architecten is responsible for the temporary accommodation of the Dutch House of Representatives, more commonly known as ‘Tweede Kamer’. Zecc created a custom version of Aectual technology‘s Weave panels to design a unique circular canopy for the building.
Apis Cor is the first construction 3D printing pure player to receive official Regulation A+ qualification by the SEC to begin offering shares to both accredited and non-accredited investors. Regulation A is an exemption from registration for public offerings with two offering tiers: Tier 1, for offerings of up to $20 million in a 12-month period; and Tier 2, for offerings of up to $75 million in a 12-month period.
Over three billion people are expected to need affordable housing by 2030. This issue is most acute in Africa, with countries like Kenya already facing an estimated shortage of two million houses. With 3D printing, constructions giant Holcim wants to be part of the solution via the joint venture 14Trees.
The integration of 3D printing processes into architecture is no longer a novelty. The advantages that additive manufacturing offers architects are also widely known. Complex geometries can be realized more easily, costs can be saved, and functionalities can be integrated directly into designs and construction plans. This integration of functions, however, can be taken even further. The Meristem Wall, a project at Lund University led by two Swedish innovative architects, David Andreen and Ana Goidea, who formed the bioDigital matter lab, uses voxeljet sand binder jetting technology to take the wall’s functionality to a new level, without compromising on aesthetics.