Professors Felix Raspall and Carlos Bañón from SUTD Singapore have designed a 14.5-meter-long fibrous mesh made out of metal and nylon 3D printed nodes and aluminum bars for the SUTD Open House 2016.
Rather than utilizing 3D printing to create a scaled model, the pavilion project applied 3D printing technology directly to functional architectural components at a large scale.
All of the printed nodes (19 of which are metal, and 72 of which are nylon) were parametrically tailored specifically for their own geometric positions based on the number of concurring bars, and the angle between them. This strategy results in a true, free-form shape where connections are optimized and flush with the section of the bars.
“Behind the apparent chaos, a strict tetrahedral geometry is embedded in the structure of the volume, as a strategy to confer stability and robustness to the whole system. In addition, the lightweight structure serves also as a support for three five-meter-long solid flat platforms which, hovering at different heights, exhibit a selection of students’ works," said designers from SUTD.
The pavilion, which was a central hub for congregation at its opening, has now become a familiar and “almost imperceptible” piece due to its low ratio between mass and volume, such that visitors walk through it when crossing the lobby space.
News via the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
