Variable 3D-Printed Ceramic Molds for Cast Architectural Elements
Two piece 3D-printed ceramic mold
Cast aluminum module
Module geometry
3D printer toolpath
Project Description:
This ongoing project examines the potential to utilize 3D-printed ceramic technologies to produce variable, positive-less molds for the production of architectural elements in cast metal. The research addresses the formal limits and fidelity issues of gel extrusion; computationally assesses the variable infidelities involved in the drying, vitrification, and casting process; and assesses the technical limits of cold-mold, gravity-cast metal. The examples produced show the potential for this process to realize architecture which simultaneously achieves both structural gracility and ornamental complexity efficiently and with a constrained capacity for serial variability.
