Rock Print
The world has been “about to be revolutionized” by 3D printing for years now, but aside from rapid prototyping, 3D selfies, and the occasional gimmicky 3D-printed house, we don’t see much of it every day. So why hasn’t this technology revolutionized modern infrastructure? One reason is that it still has to compete with concrete, one of the cheapest, most versatile, and efficiently delivered materials in the history of architecture. At the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Self-Assembly Lab at MIT and Gramazio Kohler Research of ETH Zurich showed off a process that might finally one-up concrete, using only a 3D printing extruder, rocks, string, and smart design.

der Würfel
„The cube“ ist der zweite Teil des neuen kreativen Zyklus der Performerin. Immer auf der Suche nach den Grenzen des Körpers, versinkt er buchstäblich im Beton.

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“The cube” is the second part of the performer’s new creative cycle. Always looking for the limits of the body, it literally sinks into the concrete.

Marsha
Marsha is a AI SpaceFactory’s NASA-award-winning design and prototype for a 3D printed Mars habitat. The prototype was printed nearly autonomously in 2019 within a 30-hour construction window. “Our 3D print technology uses a recyclable biopolymer composite which outperformed concrete in NASA’s strength, durability, and crush testing. ASTM lab tested and certified to be two to three times stronger than concrete in compression, our space-grade material is also five times more durable than concrete in freeze-thaw conditions.” Ai-Spacefactory

Amos Rex Museum
Amos Rex rethinks the urban park as part of our museum experience. Its structure is built with large concrete domes. This principle is very functional for museum use: it allows long column-free spans and flexible exhibition spaces. The domes contain skylights that introduce natural light into the galleries below as well as carefully selected views of life above. At street level, a new urban square has been created with a unique identity. The domes form an undulating landscape for people to enjoy, especially children. The Lasipalatsi building was restored respecting its valuable 1930´s Functionalist era interiors and details.

Sun Tunnel
Sun Tunnels consists of four massive concrete tunnels, each eighteen feet long and nine feet in diameter, laid out in the desert in an open X configuration. On the solstices, the tunnels frame the sun as it passes the horizon at sunrise and sunset. In the top of each tunnel, Holt drilled small holes to form the constellations of Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn. These holes, and the tunnels themselves, act as frames or lenses through which the visitor can view the surrounding sky and landscape of the Great Basin Desert.

laberinto cromatico
Dutch artist Krijn de Koning has created a labyrinthine walkway between brightly coloured walls on a terrace at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, England.
The first public commission in England by De Koning, the Dwelling installation comprises a series of angled walls punctured with doorways and windows that create a trail for visitors to navigate through.Situated on the south terrace of the David Chipperfield-designed Turner Contemporary, the walls are positioned between the exterior of the gallery building and the site boundary.The elements slot between existing structures, incorporating changes in floor level and abutting permanent concrete balustrades.“The artist’s site-specific works – part architecture, part sculpture – challenge the viewer, offering new possibilities to navigate and experience the space the works inhabit,” said a statement from the gallery.Perpendicular surfaces, including door and window recesses, are all painted in different colours.The bright tones reference traditional seaside pavilions and beach huts, a common feature along the UK coast.The maze is open to the sky so shadows move across the surfaces of installation through the day.Architectural features including windows and doors are different sizes and positioned at various heights, allowing some to be clambered over or crawled beneath.