50 WO RLD-CHANGING IDEAS >>
CROSS OVER Looking down on the organic design that supports the deck of Amsterdam ’ s 40-foot , stainless steel MX3D Bridge , above ; the bridge was installed over the OZ Achterburgwal canal in the city ’ s red-light district in 2021 , right .
The MX3D Bridge in Amsterdam is one of the world ’ s most famous 3D-printed architectural projects , and the first to focus on metal . Designed by Joris Laarman and built by his robotics company from nearly five tons of pure stainless steel , it was made to demonstrate that 3D printing could work on a large scale by using robotic arms and an additive arc welding process . While there has been limited interest in using stainless steel at this scale due to its high embodied carbon , the bridge achieves a truly futuristic look , with sinuous balustrades and a delicate , lattice-like patterning that gives the impression of muscle moving under mesh .
Other architects are pursuing more blue-sky ideas . London-based
Blast Studio 3D prints structures from a biomaterial created by combining urban waste like pulped coffee cups and living bio organisms like mycelium , the branching root-like part of mushrooms . Mycelium has the ability to strengthen structures as it grows , giving it great potential as an all-natural architectural material . Using a custom printer with a cold extruder so as not to kill the organisms , the studio prints items like the six-foot-tall Tree Column , whose trunk-like structure supports the growth of mushrooms that can be eaten or house other life . Blast Studio cofounder Paola Garnousset imagines a structure like this being used for facades , pavilions , or kiosks that would sit within the cityscape to promote urban biodiversity .
“ We ’ re thinking a lot about the idea of an architecture that would be made for all living organisms ,” says Garnousset . “ With 3D printing you can design a piece that works both at the scale of the centimeter and have very small interstices into which insects can create their nest , and work on a bigger scale for humans .”
Architecture made more sustainable There are several ways 3D printing can lessen the environmental impact of architecture : It eliminates the material wasted on molds that are used once , then destroyed ; it allows parts to be replaced on demand ; and it can reduce