People have been building dwellings for thousands of years by molding mud into blocks, drying them in the sun, and stacking them. The simple brick is now being upgraded by a design studio in Oakland, California. Founders Ronald AEL and Virginia San Fratelli are using 3D printing technology to create attractive, environmentally friendly modular building components that are influenced by earth architecture and other traditions.
The team at their Emerging Object's studio created blocks out of clay and sand that can cool rooms and even reinforce buildings during earthquakes. They're also experimenting with unusual materials like salt and sawdust, as well as processes that could one day allow waste to be converted into homes.
AEL and San Fratelli began experimenting with 3D-printed ceramics in 2010. When scientists mixed clay with an organic substance called maltodextrin, they discovered that the resulting ceramic had a lot of microscopic pores. "It turns into a ceramic sponge," AEL explains. They made what they term the Cool Brick out of the material.
The Cool Brick is a six-inch long 3D-printed ceramic object formed like an elongated hexagon. The brick resembles a little lattice with wider holes for air to pass through, in addition to being incredibly porous. When water is dripping from a plumbing system or splattered over the wall by hand, it is absorbed by the ceramic and subsequently evaporates, cooling the air. Cool, humid air is brought in by breezes passing through the openings.
The design is influenced by earth architecture's rough surfaces, as well as the use of ceramic water jugs and lattice screens to cool houses in Africa and the Middle East. "These approaches have been established for centuries in this situation," says Joshua Stein, an architect at Woodbury University in Los Angeles, who invited AEL and San Fratelli to take part in a museum display. With the introduction of air conditioning, people have a tendency to forget about the procedures, he claims.
To fit the building's context, some blocks can be stacked in various designs. The Piccolo Block is a collection of little cones with holes at the ends that comes in three sizes, each with a different number of apertures. In a hot climate, architects might choose blocks and arrange them to create room barriers that allow ambient light and breezes but not direct sunlight.
The Quake Column was also inspired by tradition, according to AEL and San Fratelli. Masons carved stones to create interlocking blocks that shifted and fell back into place after earthquakes under the Inca Empire. Emerging Objects used the same approach to print interlocking sand bricks for added stability.
Another set of architectural possibilities is provided by waste materials. The Saltillo, a lightweight, igloo-like building built of faceted panels inspired by the shape of salt crystals, was created by the firm. Desalination plant salt waste could also be used as a building material, according to AEL. The crew has also created furniture out of recycled rubber from discarded car tires and printed wood blocks out of sawdust.
Other firms' plans, in which complete houses are 3D printed all at once with a single, massive printer, differ with the studio's concentration on modular components. AEL believes it is more practical to produce modest things with many small printers. If one of the printers fails, the remaining machines can continue working. Furthermore, the components are more easily transportable and replaceable.
According to Stein, projects like the Cool Brick demonstrate that "high-tech" does not always imply the use of new, synthetic materials: "I believe it simply alters our perception of what a high-tech structure could be."
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