Digital Taihu 3D Printed Furniture

Press Kit

Unique Properties

The work uses 3D printing to activate traditional Chinese culture to realize the synergistic design of structural properties generated by the 'Taihu Stone' and bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization algorithms, focusing on the complexity of virtual birth forms into the rationality of physical forms. This digital design practice learns from nature and derives its design biomorphic approach from natural systems to achieve the sustainable goal of living in symbiosis with nature.

Dimensions & Packaging

Length 915mm, width 1125mm, height 1052mm

Tags

Bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization, 3D Printing, Conceptual Design, Furniture Design

Production Technology

A bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization method was used to optimize the furniture structure and to obtain a simulated natural form of Taihu stone. The furniture model is constructed from liquid photosensitive resin material by integrated 3D printing. The actual construction was carried out using metal 3D printing.

Design Challenge

The most difficult part of the project development process is the topology optimization phase, including the application of relevant mechanics methods and the testing of data iterations. Secondly, it was also a challenge to verify the feasibility of the structural materials, which needed to be considered in terms of production difficulties and the extent to which people would use them.

Project Duration

The project started in July 2022 and ended in September 2022. Project duration: 2 months. Location: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.

Operation Flow

Firstly, the furniture is designed using a bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization algorithm and the prototype is iterated according to the corresponding optimization results. Secondly, the furniture is constructed by 3D printing. The topologically optimized furniture not only has reasonable structural properties, reduces the amount of material used, and shortens the construction production cycle, but also results in a better quality customized lightweight designs.

Research

Research objectives: 1. The digital expression of traditional Chinese cultures. 2. furniture structures optimization and 3D printing technology combined to achieve sustainability goals. Research methods: 1. Structural data collection and analysis. 2. Algorithmic data iteration to generate forms. Research findings: 1. 3D printing technology allows for rapid lightweight design, moving away from traditional production models. 2. Furniture structures and materials are cutting-edge. Research Impact: Provides the possibility of diverse design for the future digital design industry.

Inspiration

In the long history of furniture design, traditional culture has given furniture shapes a richer morphological language, and 3D printing as a new design culture can bring more surprises to furniture design. From a design perspective, we hope that the combination of the natural form of the traditional Chinese stone "Taihu Stone" and digital design will result in a more vivid shape through 3D printing, activating a new way of communicating Chinese traditional culture in the digital age.

Image Credits

Yang Pu and Ding Wen‘Nic’Bao，2022.

Colors of Digital Taihu 3D Printed Furniture