The First Column

Over the course of this project, we crafted two columns. During the production of the first column, we put what we learned in the initial experiments previously described into the manufacturing of a structure composed of elements in an architectural scale for the first time. To achieve different levels of subdivision across the same 3D model, we started with having the same, high level of subdivision across the whole piece, and then polyreduce certain areas (the top and the bottom of the column in this case) to finally end up with a 3D model with varying levels of subdivision ready to be sliced into bricks and 3D printed using nozzles of different sizes.

In the crafting of the column, we discovered numerous things that helped us improve the fabrication process of subsequent structures. Each layer of the first column was made up of four bricks. The bricks were fashioned in such a way so as to put them together would imply the column having a hollow core. However, because each of the inner sides of the bricks were flat, they did not really sit perfectly next to each other, and gaps of varying distances became visible in the structure. When reviewing the column, we also discovered that some of this unexactness of the bricks could possibly have to do with the clay and that varying proportions of clay to water used. Thus some bricks would, as a result, shrink more during the drying process compared to others.

When 3D printing the bricks for the first column, we did so on pieces of cardboard. This, we noticed, was not optimal for the bricks to retain their shape during the drying process, and thus, for consecutive structures, we replaced the cardboard with acrylic glass.