Ever since the Medici ruled with enlightenment and a passion for the arts during the Reinassance, Florence has been a hub for culture, creativity, arts and crafts. With the onset of the 3D printing revolution as a means of personal production it has embraced these new technologies and combined them with its own traditions. This trend is literally “materialising” at the Source Firenze Exhibition being held at the Limonaia Villa Strozzi, managed by the cultural association Officine Creative.
The term materialising was not used casually, as imaterialise, the consumer focused 3D printing service of industry leading 3D printing service provider Materialise, is bringing a number of its own featured designers to the exhibit, including i.materialise Designer of the Year 2013 award winner Amniosya.
The team of designers, that met during their studies at the University of Florence and formed a research group in 2011, works in the fields of architecture, design and fashion and seeks to create alternative forms and design methods through an unconventional way of thinking.
They won the award with their Fly Around work, which was shown at several fashion shows throughout Asia, which will be on display among their other SLS 3D printed works and those of other amazing and established 3D printing artists such as Janne Kyttanen, Xavier Lust and Patrick Jouin, who have contributed with original works to the world famous .MGX by Materialise collection of lamps and other household decor items.
For ALTROVE, the Florence based cultural association that is organizing the Source Firenze event, 3D printed designs are key for pursuing their goal of offering new spaces to young people’s creativity. The exhibit will present roughly fifty Italian and international artists that will each display one to three objects, thus favoring the meeting and sharing of knowledge among designers, artisans, retailers and companies while also attracting the general public. Lorenzo de Medici would probably have approved.
