Artworks

Digital Fabrication: Digital Metal

Digital Metal is a space frame structure with non-repetitive custom metal joints which are casted through 3d printed moulds. Shaping metal through 3d printed molds allows the fabrication of bespoke structural building parts from metal with complex inner and outer features as well as highly detailed surface. Digital Metal space frame consists of over 200 customized joints. Specific algorithms are developed to generate the space frame structure and its joints under consideration of structural and fabrication constraints. The over 400 meters of off-shelf aluminum profiles could be cut to precise length with a simple robotic setup, helping to increase the level of automation of the fabrication of the pavilion.
This is the first architectural structure made of hybrid cast metal and 3d printed molds. It offers a unique way of thinking about digital tools, their implication, application and meaning for architecture and real-world projects.

Participants

Mania Aghaei Meibodi, Benjamin Dillenburger, ETH Zurich Digital Building Technologies