3D printing saves architectural heritage

Modern Ornemental system. © EDG Architecture and Engineering.

EDG, a New York architecture and engineering firm, has developed a 3D printing process to restore the city’s architectural gems. Thanks to a 3D scanning laser, software like 3DSMax and Rhino as well as specialized algorithms, EDG is able to print moulds for complex ornamental architectural details. The moulds are inlaid with a laser-cut wire mesh and filled with Sika concrete to create the final piece. The entire process costs a fraction of the price of traditional techniques like sculpting. The firm was inspired by the pending demolition of 574, Fifth Avenue, a building graced with complex ornamentation that had become prohibitively expensive to restore. The building, whose facade dated from 1903, was finally demolished in 2017. Of course, the technique can also be used to create contemporary pieces; with any luck, it might usher in a revival of a kind of Art Deco architecture, after decades of brutalism.

⇨ 3ders.org, “EDG creates customizable 3D printed concrete molds to restore historic architecture.”

⇨ Archpaper.com, “EDG creates customizable 3D-printed concrete molds.”