Zaha Hadid Architects Unveils New Experimental Structure Using 3D-Printing Technology

Zaha Hadid Architects Unveils New Experimental Structure Using 3D-Printing Technology - Image 10 of 17
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Zaha Hadid Architects unveiled a new experimental structure as part of Milan’s White In The City Exhibition during the city’s annual Salone del Mobile. Held at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in the heart of Milan’s design district, the exhibition explored the contemporary use of white color in design and architecture across various locations in the city. Named the Thallus – after the Greek word for flora that is not differentiated into stem and leaves, the sculpture is the latest in ZHA’s investigations using 3D printing technology. Thallus continues Zaha Hadid Architects’ Computational Design (ZHA CoDe) group’s research into generating geometries through robotic-assisted design.

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Thallus is made from a premium polylactide plastic used in 3D printing. The structure is created by hot wire cutting technology and automated additive manufacturing. Its shape is generated from a ruled surface tailored to a trimmed cylinder, that allows the hot-wire cutting process to create the mold of the sculpture’s base. The mold then becomes the starting point where the structural strip continuously prints. Six-axis robotic 3D-printing technology created the 7km long extruded structural strip that loops around to connect with itself on a single ruled surface. The result is the continuous, calla lily-like geometry that is created through one single stroke.

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© Luke Hayes
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The design explores the different ways in which a curve is guided along a reference surface, changing its density and growth through parametric boundaries. The differences in pattern on the structure’s surface, from closely-knit to large curves are defined by parameters ranging from proximity to its edges, structural requirements and the angled directions it took during printing. The creation of Thallus’ structure from ZHA CoDe demonstrates what can now be achieved in terms of mechanization and customization in the architecture, construction and engineering industries.

Zaha Hadid Architects Unveils New Experimental Structure Using 3D-Printing Technology - Windows, Facade, Column
© Luke Hayes
  • Architects

  • Location

    Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, Italy
  • Design

    Zaha Hadid Design, Patrik Schumacher
  • Design Team

    ZHA Code: Shajay Bhooshan, Henry David Louth, Marko Margeta
  • Project Management

    Maha Kutay, Woody Yao, Manon Janssens
  • Contributors

    Ai Build - Robotic Additive Manufacturing, Odico Formwork Robotics - Robotic Formworks, Armadillo Engineering - Metal works
  • Primary Sponsor

    OIKOS
  • Project Year

    2017
  • Photographs

    Luke Hayes
  • Architects

Information via: Zaha Hadid Architects.

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Project location

Address:Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, Italy

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About this office
Cite: Sabrina Syed. "Zaha Hadid Architects Unveils New Experimental Structure Using 3D-Printing Technology" 21 May 2017. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/871659/zaha-hadid-architects-unveils-new-experimental-structure-using-3d-printing-technology> ISSN 0719-8884

© Luke Hayes

扎哈·哈迪德建筑师事务所用3D打印技术制作的新试验架构

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