3D printing technology as a method for discovering new creative opportunities for architecture and design

Abstract

3D printing technology has been in existence for several decades and has long been used exclusively for industrial manufacturing or product prototyping, and today this rapidly progressing technology penetrates more and more effectively into creativity fields. It encourages re-evaluation of the possibilities and methods that every person today can create, model, change their living environment. Opens up new possibilities for customized architectural and product design. The world-wide technological experiments provide new and still untapped tools for future developers. The article analyzes the current situation of recent decade in the Western world regarding the use of three dimensional (3D) press in relation to the living environment. The study highlights emerging trends and new opportunities for creativity for architects and designers. From printing complex geometrical structures to practical application in product design. The research analyzes the research of different authors, and some significant technological innovations. All this makes it possible to concentrate and effectively evaluate the direction of the development of this industry and the expected result for the future development of architecture in contemporary digital age. Since 3D printing in architecture and landscape design is not yet widely used, the article discusses the most recent experiments conducted by various researchers in recent years, reflecting the trends of the fourth industrial revolution and which can influence further architectural development. The research methodology is based on historical research, analogical descriptive and comparative methods. The results of the research suggest that, as the 3d printing technology grows and develops, architecture and the design of the environment will acquire a wider variety of artistic expression.

Exploring creativity management of design for additive manufacturing

“…This could be due to this not being interesting for design for AM researchers, however, we rather found it to be intriguing to explore how creative potentials are approached with this new technology. Various researchers in the field argue that more knowledge and expertise is needed while designing for AM (e.g Krugelis, 2018;Laverne et al, 2015), and several methods have been designed to support designers seeking to take full advantage of its potential during a design process (e.g. Kumke et al, 2016;Maidin et al, 2012;Ponche et al, 2014).…”

“…As previously mentioned, expertise in creativity has been defined as knowledge and intellectual abilities, where designers need to have a firm knowledge base to be able to utilize their creative abilities in design (Amabile, 1998). In line with this, it is often argued that designers need directed education and training to fully explore the possible solution space of AM (Krugelis, 2018). When it comes to new technologies such as AM, the knowledge base needs to consider various perspectives, such as material, process and geometrical freedom, to fully understand both possibilities and limitations in specific design practices.…”

“…Creative thinking is directed by how people approach problems in a flexible and imaginable manner (Amabile, 1998); AM is often argued to open up creative opportunities that historically have not been possible before (Krugelis, 2018). It is suggested that AM can support designers to express themselves creatively and hence find innovative solutions in their designs (Krugelis, 2018;Wai, 2001). Nevertheless, it has also been proposed that researchers and designers should be cautious when discussing creative potentials of AM, since it does not always correlate with high-quality design (Abdelall et al, 2018b).…”