3F Studio has designed a 3D-printed façade destined to serve as the new entrance of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. The German-based startup, founded by Moritz Mungenast, Oliver Tessin and Luc Morroni, originates from the research project Fluid Morphology, a multifunctional, translucent 3D printed façade application, developed at the Associate Professorship of Architectural Design and Building Envelope at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
3F Studio specializes in 3D Printed performative architecture and design. The computational-based design process allows for “environmentally informed architectural design” and integrates functions such as ventilation, insulation, and shading already integrated into the new façade.
One façade element, measuring approximately 1x1 m, strikes a snow-white, delicate aesthetic with light shining diffusely through the surface. Within the material, elongated cells provide stability and air-filled cavities for optimum insulation, while thin tubes circulate air for ventilation. The wave-like form of the facade also generates bulges to provide shade, while a microstructured surface ensures optimal acoustics.
When incorporated in real life, the plastic, low-tech façade is imagined as a soft, airy cloth surrounding the building. Like water waves, the overlapping corrugated surface alternates between bulges and setbacks, varying in thickness to create a wave pattern. The molding of the façade is also open to manipulation depending on context, with waves arranged to protect the façade from heat in summer, and allow optimum light in winter.
A 1.6 x 2.8-meter section of the façade is being tested at the main building of the TUM in Munich, where for one year, sensors will collect data to help architects improve design before making another prototype in polycarbonate.
3F Studio imagines future application of the material in specialist buildings such as museums, libraries, shopping malls, or meeting rooms. At the moment, the studio is planning for the 3D-printed façade to be used at the interim entrance for the Deutsches Museum in Munich, an addition to the planning of the entrance building behind the envelope of David Wolferstetter Architektur (DWA) and Architekten Schmidt-Schicketanz und Partner GmbH.
The researchers are supported by the Research Lab of the Faculty of Architecture of TUM.
News via: 3F Studio, Deutsches Museum, TUM
