Another Rapid-Prototyping Feat: Ceramic Bricks Made With 3D Printers

October 31, 2012

Brian Peters, co-founder of Amsterdam-based Design Lab Workshop, has been researching new methods of fabrication as it pertains to architecture. His latest endeavor, Building Bytes, entails making inexpensive bricks for large-scale construction using desktop 3D printers (sounds like the ideal candidate for anArchitecture+Materials award). His work was recently on view during Dutch Design Week. Read more!

Peters developed the 3D-printed ceramic bricks after participating in a six-week residency program at the European Ceramic Work Centre. His research examined the process of creating “ceramics at the scale of architecture” while working with fixed limitations such as storage systems and the size of a desktop 3D printer. Peters investigated various applications for ceramic during his residency, including using it to create interlocking bricks and stackable honeycomb bricks.

He tested fabrication methods, specifically focusing on the uniformity of bricks printed multiple times and variations in relation to a specific form (such as a dome). The bricks were printed from a liquid slipcast earthenware recipe; the only necessary modification was a custom extrusion head, an easy addition for most printers, according to the designer.

For his next research project, Peters plans to explore other materials. “It doesn’t have to be necessarily ceramic,” he explains. “It could be concrete or cement or any mixture of building materials.” Learn more about his firm here.

Photos courtesy of Design Lab Workshop, via Dezeen

[via Dezeen]