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architecture models

Using 3D Printingin the design process

digital to physical

Digital to Physical SimplifiedAt first, it sounds like something out of sci-ence fiction...technology that can make accurate objects based on what is drawn on a computer? Sometimes in a matter of hours and from a white powder? As tech-nology trends converge, it’s never been easier to take what exists on a computer screen and make it a physical object. In fact, almost any physical object down to 1/16 of an inch can be built.

What this means for the architecture in-dustry is that accurate, to-scale amodels can now be automatically constructed without the crude tools of razor blades or foam board. In this case it goes by the somewhat formal name of “3D printing” but it works just like a stack of pancakes for those unfaimiliar.

Think about breakfast for a second. A plate of round pancakes can be stacked one on top of another to form a cylinder.Make square pancakes, stack them up,

and a cube is born. More complicated shapes require irregular shaped pan-cakes but they still get stacked one on top of another to form a solid object. So, a pyramid would simply be a triangle with smaller and smaller shapes stacked one on top of another to a point.

From Powder to 3D ModelFor 3D printers using ZCorp technology, the process starts with a very fine white powder that resembles corn starch in consistency. The toxicity is so low that it is almost food-grade in quality. On the computer, a house or hillside is sliced up digitally and made into an outline or “pancake.” From here it is fed into the machine and each outline of that pancake traced out using a small dispenser on an “x” and “y” axis. A sugar and water binder is applied to tem-porarily glue each layer together. Over time each stack eventually resembles whatever shape is needed. But these are pretty thin pancakes -- about 59 exist in a single inch.

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A completed CAD file that is free from defects and ready to be sent to a 3D printer. The file will be split into thousands and thousands of “pancakes” by the software and assembled layer upon layer.

59number of layers in a single inch

While round pancakes can make a cylinder, square pancakes can be staked up to form a cube. The shape of each individual pancake is what helps de-termine the overall shape of the object. (Photo: Anna Moderska)

filechallenges

Devil is in the DigitalHowever, the success of the architecture model hinges on a perfect “water tight” Computer Aided Design (CAD) file. Pre-paring this file is typically the most tedious and difficult task of the entire process of going from 2D drawings on the computer to the 3D model in the hand. If not care-fully produced, a corrupt CAD file causes the model to “blow up” in the machine and the results are fragments of building ma-terials that simply crumble upon removal. This is always a defeating and expensive experience.

Mesh TrianglesThe transformation from digital to physi-cal has to do with the most common file format that 3D printers read from, which is referred to as a “Stererolithography” file or STL for short. This file format basically wraps a fine mesh around the object. At an upclose level this mesh is nothing more than tiny triangles that cover an object. The best example of what these look like to a 3D printer is the bag that oranges are

packed into at the grocery store. This net-ting creates a cylinder around the oranges with a few bumps sticking out. STL files can be tricky to edit because if the mesh suffers a tear, the machine is unable to read the file and this causes the problems mentioned before. Much like how oranges spill out from a torn bag, the contents of the model behave the same way. STL use goes back to Computer Aided Manufactur-ing (CAM) machines and the ability of the file format to describe surface geometry in three dimensions without using color, tex-ture, or other CAD model characteristics.

Ripe for RevolutionHistorically, the traditional blueprint pro-vided snap shots of a design but left a cli-ent closing their eyes and struggling to as-semble an image in their mind. Computer renderings now provide a static picture of what that idea might look like but still pres-ent a view from only one angle. The 3D animated fly-throughs still occur on a com-puter screen in two-dimensions and seem cold and mechanical unless done with ad-vanced production software.

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Oranges wrapped in a sack are similar to how STL files wrap around a digital object. This mesh is what allows 3D printers to read and build physical objects from what is designed on the computer screen.

Removing excess powder from a sectional model with an airbrush tool. The interior of the house was modeled and printed with a removable roof.

thefinal piece

(continued...)The architecture model is poised to re-enter the design conversation. Only this time it can be an outsourced process and the results are exact recreations of mate-rials, topography, and structures.

The American Institute of Architects re-ports that roughly 15 percent of firms are using the Building Information Manage-ment (BIM) platform. The adoption of CAD programs changed the way things are designed, and BIM promises much of the same results with fluid outputs of STL files. These tools present opportunities to leverage what is built in the virtual world and translate that to the physical for col-laborating with clients and colleagues.

These tools can be fully employed with a bit of digital magic, corn-starch like pow-der, and sugar water all mixed together.

Using theese digital tools architects can design at the next level and take their cli-ents along with them.

Seeing in 3D is Believing So, what does the future hold for architects looking at the next tool to better com-municate with their clients? The days of all-nighters cutting foam-core boards are numbered. Today, architects can focus on what they do best, which is design, and leave the model-making to technology and service providers.

Sweet Onion Creations hopes to ease this transition by eliminating the tedious CAD work required and instead have premier architecture models simply show up for that all-important client presentation. The tools for this revolution are powder, tiny triangles, and bytes but the effects will be happier clients and better design.

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A closeup of the roof section from a concept model. This particular piece was constructed at a scale of 1/16” = 1’.

Pieces typically come out in chunks from the 3D printer and are assembled and painted for client presentations.

resourcesContact Information:p: 866.318.1227 (toll-free)p: 406.551.4854f: 406.551.4917e: info@sweetonioncreations.com

Sweet Onion Creations, LLCPO Box 11022Bozeman, Montana 59719

Links to additional information:

www.SweetOnionCreations.com

Case StudyDetails the work of JLF & Associates, Inc. in goingfrom 2d blueprints to the physical 3d model

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