What do we use cookies for?
We use cookies to enable the use of our platform’s paid features and to analyse our traffic. No personal data, including your IP address, is stored and we do not sell data to third parties.
Nature’s canopy
London – The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) has commissioned a 3D-printed garden installation as part of its first Engineering Season.
- The Elytra Filament Pavilion is inspired by the structure of the forewing shells of elytra beetles
- Initial renderings show an undulating canopy of carbon fibre shells that cast geometric shadows
Filament winding robots, The University of Stuttgart, Germany
Render of the Elytra Filament Pavilion by architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann at the V&A, London
Render of the Elytra Filament Pavilion by architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann at the V&A, London
The season’s retrospective of engineer Ove Arup’s work examines the wonders of industrial-era design, but the V&A’s central courtyard will highlight emerging robotic technology.
Engineers and architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann, structural engineer Jan Knippers and climate engineer Thomas Auer have created the concept for a 3D-printed pavilion that will take shape from March 2016.
The pavilion will develop over the course of the Engineering Season in response to data on structural behaviour and patterns of habitation captured by sensors in the canopy fibres.
Visitors will be able to watch as new cells are created by a Kuka robot, common to industrial production lines around the world.
The Big Picture
3D printing using real-time data enables designers to visualise abstract concepts. Brazilian designer Guto Requena’s The Love Project analysed emotional data to translate love stories into 3D objects.
Most Recent
1
Momentary Make-up:
Brands are packaging up bold beauty looks in convenient applications,...
2
What's next for sustainability? Collective action:
As global heating reaches boiling point, Andres Colmenares, co-director of...
3
How alcohol brands can look out for men’s wellbeing:
As the definition of nutrition broadens to include mental wellbeing, men are...
4
Why internal culture is crucial for business success:
Businesses are swapping productivity and peak performance for a culture of...
5
Exhibition: Objects for a New Kind of Society:
At Dutch Design Week 2021, Dutch Invertuals and The Future Laboratory are...
6
Emerging Youth: AfroLATAM:
Despite historical socio-economic disadvantages, Black Latin Americans are...
7
Five ways automation is boosting physical retail:
As retailers work to future-proof stores, technology and automation are...
8
Next-generation Watch Market:
An industry long steeped in traditional values, the luxury watch sector is...
9
Data-driven Escapes:
Designing expertly tailored experiences for travellers, media and technology...
10
How to optimise skin longevity at a molecular level:
Carolina Reis Oliveira, co-founder of One Skin, on why we should be...
11
Sideline Studios:
With the Creator Economy booming, broadcast studios are becoming an...
12
Material innovation will build resilient cities:
These five projects from London Design Festival 2021 show how designers can...
13
How reverse engineering can future-proof our food:
Adam Maxwell, CEO of Voyage Foods, explains how reverse engineering can...
14
What’s next for the entre-celebrity?:
From deep diversity training to TikTok-famous consultants, the C-suite...
15