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ADVANCED CERAMICS R&D LAB at the Design Institute of Guimarães

Author: Paulo Cruz, Bruno Figueiredo

The Advanced Ceramics R&D Lab is an emerging laboratory, found in 2016 and based in the Design Institute of Guimarães, Portugal,  which aims to explore the integration of digital additive manufacturing techniques in the architectural design and production processes of ceramic elements for building envelopes.

The advent of ceramic 3D printing brought unprecedented possibilities for the building industry exploring and incorporating components with specific design requirements. It definitively reshaped and expanded the boundaries of what’s possible to achieve with masonry construction and opened new domains, with multiple angles of study and experimentation and with a huge industrial potential.

AM allows faster and accurate construction of customized and multifunctional plug-in components, with immense applications in architecture. A wide range of recent projects invigorated the use of ceramic materials as a contemporary option for architectural production, enabling new uses and challenging functional performances.

The Advanced Ceramics R&D Lab aims to explore the integration of digital additive manufacturing techniques in the architectural design and production processes of free-form building components.

 

Visit the The Advanced Ceramics R&D Lab website