Archinect - News

MIT team creates 3D-printed glass bricks for reusable construction

2024-09-21T12:31:00-04:00

MIT engineers have created 3D-printed glass bricks that could offer a new approach to construction with sustainable and reusable materials. These interlocking bricks, which offer similar strength to concrete, are designed for circular construction, allowing buildings to be disassembled and reassembled at the end of their life cycle.

The team, led by Assistant Professor Kaitlyn Becker and former MIT researcher Michael Stern, developed the glass bricks using a custom 3D printing technology from MIT spinoff Evenline. Made from recycled glass, the bricks are shaped like figure eights and interlock like LEGO pieces, offering flexibility in assembly and disassembly.

Each manufacturing method is shown from left to right: FH (Fully Hollow), PC (Print-Cast), and FP (Fully Printed). Credits:Image: Ethan Townsend

In mechanical testing, the glass bricks demonstrated strength comparable to concrete blocks, proving their potential for real-world architectural applications. The team experimented wi...

Architecture schools are using digital fab labs to 3D print medical equipment

2020-03-25T13:50:00-04:00

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen and foreseeable shortages of necessary safety and medical equipment begin to materialize, several initiatives involving designers have sprung up to aid in the production of specialized protective gear for the doctors and nurses treating sick patients.

Rapidly Produced Face Shields

One effort is taking root through a network of partnerships between Barnard College and Columbia University, where librarians, designers, and technicians at the school's Design Center are working together to 3D-print protective face shields for medical workers.

The project has resulted in the Guide and Design for Rapidly Produced Face Shields, a document created by Columbia's Digital Scholarship Librarian Alex Gil and Research Data Librarian Moacir P. de Sá Pereira that includes a list of materials and instructions for 3D printing plastic protective visors for hospital use.

"Although 3D printers can be used to print complex PPE such as N95 masks," text on the p...

Foster + Partners | Branch Technology win Phase 2, Level 1 of NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

2017-05-09T19:42:00-04:00

The Foster + Partners and Branch Technology team recently won first prize in the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge's Phase 2: Level 1 Compression Test Competition. The three-phase Challenge envisions a future where autonomous machines can help build extra-terrestrial shelters for human habitation. Phase 2 is divided into three levels, with each one focusing on a different structural challenge.

After winning second place in Phase 1 in 2015, Foster + Partners teamed up with Branch Technology to refine the original concept.

In Phase 2 - Level 1, the seven competing teams had to use a combination of recycled mission materials and indigenous Martian regolith to 3D-print a truncated cone and a cylinder, which went through compression testing to assess their suitability as structural components.

Foster + Partners and Branch Technology's Cone Print. Courtesy of Foster + Partners | Branch Technology.

Foster + Partners and Bran...