What 4D printing offers is the opportunity for objects to change, to adapt to their environment, to respond.

Earlier this year, Skylar Tibbits, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Self-Assembly Lab, created a bit of a stir with his talk on 4D printing.

“We are looking at the ability to program physical and biological materials to change shape, change properties and even compute outside of silicon-based matter,” Mr. Tibbits told the TED conference in February. — blogs.wsj.com

Here’s what’s holding back 3D printing, the technology that’s supposed to revolutionize manufacturing and countless other industries: patents. In February 2014, key patents that currently prevent competition in the market for the most advanced and functional 3D printers will expire, says Duann Scott, design evangelist at 3D printing company Shapeways. — qz.com

With our first foray into 3D printing technology, we have partnered with Sculpteo, MakerBot, and Hot Pop Factory who are leaders in 3D printing technology to hand-select a range of special products including, iPhone cases, figurines, and jewelry. — exact.ebay.com

This summer, the Design Museum in London will be offering a glimpse into the future of fabrication and manufacturing with The Future Is Here: A New Industrial Revolution, a major new exhibition about the sweeping changes in manufacturing that are transforming our world. — bustler.net

Libraries have long been the haven of readers, but now the Chicago Public Library is making their main branch a haven for makers.

As part of the CPL's innovation lab, the Harold Washington branch will open its free "maker space" July 8. Crain's Chicago Business describes it as a "pop-up fabrication lab will offer the public access to 3-D printers, laser cutters, a milling machine and a vinyl cutter as well as a variety of supporting design software." — huffingtonpost.com

Architecture has a habit of adapting its aesthetics to new technologies, whether consciously or unconsciously. Some of the most beautiful buildings of the Industrial Revolution -- the cantilever Forth Bridge, for example -- were designed by engineers, not architects, for example. Architecture quickly absorbed the idea of buildings that reflected their purpose. — wired.co.uk

This is the future!

And it is, in some respects — it’s going to open so many things up in the world. But that doesn’t mean to say that you will do it yourself or that it will decentralize manufacturing, like the hype seems to suggest.

So, no revolution?

The main issue lies with raised expectations, build quality, price and usability. So here we go, my list of reasons 3D printing isn’t all you think it’s cracked up to be. — gizmodo.com

Never before have we had a technology where we can so freely translate our ideas into a tangible object with little regard to the machinery or skills available. Yet just as the microwave didn’t replace all other forms of cooking as initially predicted, 3-D printing will not replace other manufacturing technologies let alone industrial-scale ones for a variety of reasons. It will complement them. — wired.com

In the latest edition of Working out of the Box: Archinect interviewed Larraine Henning who is currently seeking funding for A Practical Guide to Squatting on Indiegogo.

@bawshaw commented "@LandMass - agreed. although the thesis is interesting, this is not out of the box in terms of a career"...Yet Connely Farr disagreed "@ LandMass - yep. you sound like an ass".

*This screed is awesomely entertaining and full of cool links, even though it’s almost entirely implausible..There’s also the occasional built-from-scratch Brasilia. So, some people might build a city like this in some central-planned, high-tech rush, before realizing that urban drones, bacteria, and 3DPrinters are fated to become as old-fashioned and pokey as swoopy, Space Age Brasilia is right now. - Bruce Sterling — Co.Exist. - Fast Company

Staples, the world’s largest office products company and second largest e-commerce company, today became the first major U.S. retailer to announce the availability of 3D printers. The Cube® 3D Printer from 3D Systems, a leading global provider of 3D content-to-print solutions, is immediately available on Staples.com for $1299.99 and will be available in a limited number of Staples stores by the end of June. — businesswire.com

Carl Bass, who’s helmed the $2 billion corporation since 2006, admits that the delineation between building virtual and physical products is eroding, and that has created opportunities for companies who have traditionally focused on developing and selling software.

“It used to be that it was this unwritten rule that software companies don’t do hardware, and vice versa,” he says, “but I think the rules are changing…. It totally would be fun. I personally would love it.” — wired.com

The idea behind the 3Doodler is that it takes the core functionality of a 3D printer, essentially an extruder and a heat source, and jams it into a pen-shaped handheld device. Loaded with either ABS or PLA plastic, common feedstock for traditional 3D printers, the 3Doodler "prints" plastic objects by letting you draw them in freehand in three-dimensional space. — reviews.cnet.com

Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the ESA to explore the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations. Addressing the challenges of transporting materials to the moon, the study is investigating the use of lunar soil, known as regolith, as building matter. — fosterandpartners.com

The Discovery Channel has aired a segment which gets behind the massive 3D printer D-Shape, designed by Italian inventor Enrico Dini and his company Monolite UK with the eventual aim of "printing buildings." The short film describes Dini's childhood obsession with building sandcastles, taking the viewer through the process of conceiving and designing D-Shape, which uses thin layers of bonded sand to build up its constructions. — theverge.com