3D Printed "Arabesque Wall" Features 200 Million Individual Surfaces

Standing 3 meters (10 feet) tall, Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer's Arabesque Wall is an object of intimidating intricacy. 3D printed over the course of four days from a 50 Gigabyte file, the piece is a demonstration of the incredible forms achievable with algorithmic design and 3D printing - however with its overwhelming complexity it is also a test of human perception.

"Architecture should surprise, excite, and irritate," explain Dillenburger and Hansmeyer. "As both an intellectual and a phenomenological endeavor, it should address not only the mind, but all the senses - viscerally. It must be judged by the experiences it generates."

3D Printed Arabesque Wall Features 200 Million Individual Surfaces - More Images+ 6

© Victoria Fard

Created in collaboration with Design Exchange in Toronto for the 3DXL exhibition last month, the 0.8 ton piece composed of 12 smaller sand-printed blocks took four months to design, four days to print and four hours to assemble.

© Peter Andrew

Inspired by the arabesques from Islamic art, a form of surface decoration which uses elaborate flowing and overlapping lines created through geometric rules, Dillenburger and Hansmeyer used custom software and an iterative iterative folding algorithm to create a form that contains 200 million surfaces at a resolution of just 0.2 millimeters. "Shifting the design process to this abstract level has a dramatic impact, creating a complexity and richness of detail that would otherwise be almost impossible for a designer to specify or conceive of," they explain.

© Victoria Fard

Expanding on the idea that 3D printing now means that both complexity and customization are no longer expensive extras, Dillenburger and Hansmeyer explain that the Arabesque Wall "heralds a highly differentiated and spatially complex architecture in which ornament and formal expression cease to be a luxury... Freed from fabrication constraints, we can now return to design – we now have the opportunity to redefine what it is we want."

Design development. Image © Hansmeyer / Dillenburger
© Victoria Fard

Designers: Benjamin Dillenburger, Michael Hansmeyer
Team: Farzaneh Victoria Fard, John Natanek, Timothy Boll , Paul Kozak, Andrew Lee
Thank you / support: John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, University of Toronto; ExOne, Troy, Michigan; Sierra Spray Painting Ltd., Bolton, Ontario

Design development. Image © Hansmeyer / Dillenburger

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Cite: Rory Stott. "3D Printed "Arabesque Wall" Features 200 Million Individual Surfaces" 02 Sep 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/773012/3d-printed-arabesque-wall-features-200-million-individual-surfaces> ISSN 0719-8884

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