Designers Step Up To 3D Printing Technology

At a time when the Materials KTN is launching the Additive Manufacturing Special Interest group >>> Link to article <<<, this example of a shoe designer, Marloes Ten Bhome, embracing what 3D printing technology can do is very refreshing and perhaps an inspiration to the materials community. 

The STL file was created by taking the data off a solid shoe form and digitising the measurements.

A pair of shoes formed from layers of photopolymer material.

The shoe, which has both flexible and rigid sections, is modelled.

An Object printer then built the shoes using an additive manufacturing technology in which successive layers of a photopolymer material are UV cured. The shoe is built in one go, but is comprised of two materials which are organised into different microscopic structures, thereby enabling different material properties. As a result, the shoe has both flexible and rigid sections. The shoe has been designed to be disassembled for the purpose of replacing parts, despite having never been assembled in the first place.

When moving from rapid prototyping to rapid manufacturing, inherent construction possibilities and aesthetics of the production method needs to be explored. Certain design and production details such as the punch holes and screws in this design are not a derivative of this production method, but still make constructive sense.

The piece was originally commissioned by Curatorssqaured; Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox for the exhibition "Mechanical Couture; Fashioning a New Order" in the Design Museum in Holon. The work is currently on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the "Power of Making" exhibition curated by Daniel Charny in collaboration with the Crafts Council. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/power-of-making/

The materials use are TangoBlack and VeroBlack which are specifically formulated for the Objet Printing System.