echoviren pavilion: the world's first 3D printed architecture

I don’t see how this is architecture? I thought architecture is meant to house people or objects. It doesn’t even have a roof. Surely it falls under the sculpture category?

@fisher
“Also being such a labor intensive process of printing so many pieces to fit perfectly together is a whole other can of worms that may have not crossed your mind.”

It´s not that labor intensive, you can do that with any CAD program easily, do the main shape in one piece, see how much does the 3d printer size is, then cut accordingly.
Please, I understand your point of view, but dont try to make it look difficult to make.

Difficult would be to make a one-piece house fully functional. Difficult and innovative.

Beautiful – occulus light qualities – varied within modular

@thomas, this is very impressive for the technology available to normal folk like you and I. There are the huge types of 3D printers that could print out pre-fab walls with wiring, support, insulation, etc, to achieve your “one shape” building, but these large scale printers cost millions. What is so impressive about this project is that it was done with a consumer printer that the normal folk can actually afford. Also being such a labor intensive process of printing so many pieces to fit perfectly together is a whole other can of worms that may have not crossed your mind. This project definitely deserves the respect and impact of what you can do with printers right now, in your home. Also check here to explain why it is called a “building”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building (dean tidwell, you should know this)

As an architect licensed in many states, I do not consider this architecture. Art maybe, but not even shelter is this stack.

is this even a building?

Love this concept using small scale printer technology. Can only imagine the possibilities when using large scale robotic printer for complex shapes.

anyone can print a bricks, then build a shack with it and call it “world first 3D printed house” give me a break people, kidding me ?

Totally agree Thomas, this “first 3D printed” frenzy is getting on my nerves and some people are just creating things on 3D printers because it´s a novelty and to get the “first 3D printed something” stamp on it, not because of some innovation point of view.

To me for this to happen, a truly “the first 3D printed house”, first we have to invent a massive 3D printer, that can print in really large sizes and can be dislocated to the site of the construction, after that just see it print floor by floor, a bit like it happens with modern skyscrapers but every floor is made of ONE 3d printed piece and all you need is that huge printer and the material to feed it.
Now that´s going to be different and innovative, not take a already made technology and make blocks with it, I appreciate the effort, but I dont see the big fuzz about it.

This is pointless. It is 3D printed but it’s not how 3D-printed buildings should work. It has bricks for crying out loud. A 3D-printed building should be one shape and printed on site. Not some fancy bricks printed somewhere and then stacked together somewhere else…We already do that. That first pic got me excited, and it is a nice shape. Just not a 3D-printed building, not to me.