Professional Additive Manufacturing
By “professional additive manufacturing”, we intend all those categories of 3D printing adoption that relate to the creative and artistic spheres. These include applications in architecture, construction, design, arts & crafts as well as entertainment (movies and animation) and designer consumer products such as furniture and jewelry.
This category of adopters has grown enormously in recent years as the cost of professional level AM systems has decreased from over $100,000 to between $20,000 and $5,000. This enormous paradigm shift has opened up 3D printing to a wide demographic of users that have innovated and imagined new application possibilities for AM. The process is still very much ongoing as the abundance of news and articles in this section clearly indicate.
Several artists and creatives have embraced plastic and in many cases ceramics based technologies to explore new possibilities in both end-use products and their supply to the final user. 3D printing is seen as the key technology that will enable the production of mass customized items, produced on-demand, on location, by professionals in any part of the world.
Global professional and B2C additive manufacturing services such as Shapeways, iMaterialise and Sculpteo have also contributed to expanding this area of AM by making high-end 3D printing technologies easily accessible and affordable for more people all over the world.
Latest professional AM news:
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Spanish sustainable infrastructure company Acciona recently teamed up with Spain’s National Archaeological Museum (MAN) to 3D print a full-scale replica of the San Pedro de las Dueñas Arch, built as part of the eponymous monastery in the 12th century. The 3D printed arch, placed in the museum garden, is said…
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3D printing service Shapeways announced its latest initiative, an e-commerce integration partnership with Etsy. The collaboration will benefit users on both ends: Etsy shops will be able to manage 3D printed orders directly through Shapeways, while Shapeways users will now be able to easily establish their own Etsy shops and…
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Over the years we have witnessed a clear evolutionary trend in how 3D printing is used in product design. The clearest representations of these trends come from Milan Design Week, which is a city-wide collection of events taking place during the Milan Furniture Fair (Salone del Mobile). Over the past…
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The XXII Triennale di Milano, Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, highlights the concept of restorative design and studies the state of the threads that connect humans to their natural environments. Broken Nature is composed of a thematic exhibition and a number of international participants solicited through official channels. As much as the exhibit…
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Digital manufacturing company 3Diligent was selected by commercial cladding company Walters & Wolf to 3D print a series of exterior curtain wall nodes for the new Rainier Square Tower in Seattle. The building, which is expected to be complete in 2020, will be Seattle’s second tallest building, following the 76-story…
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The DFAB HOUSE, a collaborative effort between ETH Zurich researchers and industrial partners, has officially been opened. A real feat for 3D printed architecture, the building was constructed using a range of cutting edge technologies including additive manufacturing, robotics and digital planning. The DFAB HOUSE, which has been in the…
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You can expect to marvel at more than Marcel Duchamp’s Fontaine readymade sculpture at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as a special exhibition, “La fabrique du vivant” (The Fabric of the Living), has just kicked off. The exhibition, which explores the notion of the “living” and the interactions between organic…
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Milan has become something of a 3D printing design hub in recent years, largely thanks to the occurrence of prestigious events such as the Salone del Mobile, a furniture expo held every Spring in Italy’s capital of fashion and design. Last year, for instance, the Salone del Mobile’s showstopper was…
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As one of the biggest players in the 3D printing industry, Stratasys should be acknowledged for its commitment to supporting creative applications for additive manufacturing. Over the years, the company has collaborated with numerous artists, including Neri Oxman, Daniel Widrig, Francis Bitonti and others to showcase how 3D printing is…
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Ackuretta, a manufacturer of professional DLP 3D printing solutions, has introduced its newest 3D printer model, the FreeShape 120. Available as of today for $2,499, the new 3D printer offers an accessible yet professional desktop 3D printing solution for the dental and jewelry markets. With a build volume of 120…
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