At the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) round table held last week, media guests and bloggers witnessed a demonstration straight out of Tomorrowland.

 

Showcased with much fervor by the esteemed panel of architects was the latest in printing innovation: 3D printers that create scale models of any design in more or less 60 minutes.Present at the event was 3D Systems, a brand that carries a spectrum of printers and scanners that can make small-scale prints as well as large, industrial ones. Their products range from the Cube, a personal printer that’s no bigger than a blender, to the herculean ProJet 7000 HD, which is larger than the average person.

 

The high-tech architect

 

3D printing is still in its infancy, said Lor Calma & Partners principal architect Ed Calma. “We’re still testing the limitations of this technology and we see it’s getting more sophisticated. It’s really a matter of making models by hand or by a 3D printer. That’s really where the future is headed,” he said.

 

But a few architectural firms have already enlisted the use of these 3D printers for their projects. Given two options—die-cutting and assembling cardboard, wooden blocks and foam in a long and arduous process, or inputting your design into a computer and waiting for the printer to pop out the model—the advantage is obvious. 3D printers take a fraction of the time and the cost to produce models in the long run, and is subject to less human error.

 

Other strides on the design front for the 3D printer include furniture prototyping, interior schematics and, more incredibly, the construction of molds for pre-cast concrete products (the facades of houses, for example). Imagine pre-casting sections of your house in a factory then bringing them back to the site for assembly to piece together a jigsaw puzzle—it’s as simple as that.

 

Realistically speaking, though, it might be a few years before we see 3D printers becoming as common as the laserjet printer.

 

Though manufacturers have been making the product more accessible to homes in terms of size, speed and user-friendly software, there is still the question of what to use it for.

 

The output of such 3D printers, at least of the personal use variety, is limited in size (3D System’s CubeX can print items as big as a basketball) and material (they use ABS and PLA plastic, shrewd material similar to that of Legos). So if you’re thinking of making the furniture of your dreams into reality, you might want to think again. Plus, the hefty price tag of P90,000 to P185,000 for one machine might be too much for the typical household budget.

 

Personal 3D printing may have a long way to go in the realm of home use, but it is charming its way into the heart of design industries, especially the architectural world.

 

3D printing is a new-era technology we’re still inching towards. But like many of the gadgets we can’t live without now, it’s only a matter of time before we start getting comfortable with the idea. Right now it is mainly used in the design and architectural industries, but in a few years this new technology could be in every home.