About a year ago today, a French start-up named Drawn unveiled a series of 3D printed furniture at the Maker Faire in Paris. Each piece, from chairs to rocking horses, was extruded in fun colors by the company’s retrofitted industrial robotic arm Galatéa, designed by Drawn founder Sylvain Charpiot. Now, the company has taken to Kickstarter, where it hopes to obtain $17,029 to develop its work further so that it can display Galatéa and its furniture at more trade shows around the world.
By contributing to Drawn’s campaign, backers not only get to have warm, fuzzy feelings knowing that they’re helping an exciting 3D printing start-up, but they also get to purchase items made by the company, as well. With items ranging in size and price from a €20 copy of your name printed by Galatéa to a complete furniture set that includes a bench, a coffee table, a lamp, a vase, and a shelf, this Kickstarter may enable you to own actual 3D printed furniture.
In addition to the fact that you could own your very own 3D printed furniture, if you back the campaign, you also get to design it… sort of. One of the beauties of 3D printing is that items can be custom-made on demand. In the case of this campaign, you get to choose the color of the furniture printed for you and, in some cases, the text that Galatéa draws into your purchase (specifically, the set of 10 €35 clothes hangers). The prices for these designer goods is pretty remarkable, particularly given the fact that Drawn says that it will ship anywhere in the world for all but their giant 3D printed vase.
The range and look of these pieces are truly awesome and I encourage you to hit up the campaign to check out the complete collection. And some of the designs in prototype status have some amazing potential. For that reason, the company hopes to obtain its funding so that it can take its loveable robot arm to various trade shows, culminating in Maison et Objets next January. If I had the money, I know that I’d be purchasing, at least, a wine rack, but there’s got to be a ridiculous rich person out there willing to purchase a complete custom set for €5,000.
