Two undergraduates at the Pratt Institute of Architecture used Acropora and Rhino to design an artificial iceberg acting as a resort and 3D printed the model with a MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer. Andrew Reitz and Leland Jobson found their method highly advantageous and a path they hope to repeat for future designs. The one-to-one translation from computer design to 3D printed model opened the opportunity to focus on design and other caveats of projects that usually do not receive attention until much later in the architectural process.
The students utilized the Acropora program to simulate the ice formations. Acropora combines volumetric modifiers with multi-octave 3D noise sampling to form ornate surfaces quicker than conventional surface modelling software. By applying voxelized meshes, the program effectively creates an endless seamless expanse of surface that undulates and changes in an organic way. The meshes, not possible with height maps, can be broken into segments to be divided into further levels of detail.
With the MakerBot, the final 3D model could be viewed more objectively than through a computer program allowing the students faster and more productive adjustment periods. In the foreseeable future, 3D printed models will become a financial and chronological necessity to maintain an advantage in architecture, especially for students looking to make sudden impacts in the field. The students used an estimated dollar worth of filament per print, a drastic improvement to the $80 to $100 cost of traditional ceramic modelling. Modelling from software design to 3D print liberates the designer’s hands for more creative functions instead of painstaking focus on sculpting.
One of the most telling confessions comes from Reitz after hundreds of prints and no yield in his enthusiasm. “I can’t see myself not having a 3D printer in the future; I think it’s just going to be part of what I do for the rest of my life.
