I have been exploring the potential of 3D printing, and quickly realised the potentials were limited by the size of the printer bed. Other people have come to similar realisations, hacking Muji products, creating furniture, or even entire pavilions. Exploring the potential of combining stock materials with custom 3D printed elements, I designed some prototype furniture using spare sample materials for the surfaces and custom digitally designed connection joints.
The geometry of the design is based on a simple anti-prism, which consists of a square top and a smaller inscribed square base (similar to the shape of an inverted Freedom Tower), with triangulated connections between the top and base which makes the table appear to taper towards bottom. Rather than stiffen the triangulated legs along the geometry of the inscribed square base, the legs are cross-braced back to the top corners in a spiraled configuration.
By varying the size of the timber members and articulating the 3D printed connection joints to place emphasis on the diagonal braces, a simple geometry is transformed into a web of complex structural paths which almost appears to be in motion. This is seen better in person or in the video below.
The table is assembled without any glue or mechanical fixings, except a single tension wire at the top which pulls the connection joints together and holds the entire table in place.
My second table used similar design principles with interlocking V shaped legs arranged in an overlapping configuration around a circular top. This time I used tension wires used to hold the legs in place.
In this final exploration, I used two plates of glass for the double table surface, with the two pieces of glass completely supported double connected 3D printed parts, straightforward clamps with irregularly printed rods to enhance the floating illusion.
Digital fabrication has huge potential but also many limitations in terms of time, cost, and size. Combining digital fabrication with stock materials provides opportunities to achieve best of both worlds design solutions. These designs were fabricated with minimal tools, with the standard elements requiring only simple cuts.
The custom 3D printed elements allow for increased complexity without more difficult craftmanship. It will be interesting to see how digital fabrication can create larger scale opportunities in the future!
If you liked this post, check out my explorations into 3D printed block printing and reclaimed timber furniture!
Images and graphics by Jonathan Choe
