GLASS II - APPLICATION
GLASS II - APPLICATION
In order to evaluate the full capability of the new glass additive manufacturing technology, GLASS II, a series of three-meter tall glass column structures were designed, engineered, manufactured, and constructed.
Harnessing its optical transparency in conjunction with the spatial tunability of the material deposition across the full length of the column, geometry of each column is topologically optimized under the material constrains of the viscoelastic filament such that the result provides highly efficient structural performance as free standing columns while each layer of the printed glass acts as a lens and transforms the incoming light into spatial interactions of kaleidoscopic caustics.
This large-scale multifunctional 3D printed glass structure, embodying a new mode of transparency in architecture, was exhibited in Italy for the first time during the Milan Design Week in April 2017.
The material fundamentally drives how the machine is used, and in return, the machine can change how the glass is formed and used.
PROJECT CREDIT
The GLASS II project was developed by The Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab.
PROJECT TEAM
Chikara Inamura (project lead), Michael Stern, Daniel Lizardo, Tal Achituv, Tomer Weller, Owen Trueblood, Nassia Inglessis, Giorgia Franchin, Kelly Donovan, Peter Houk (project adviser), Prof. Neri Oxman (project and group director).
PROJECT ASSOCIATES
Andrea Magdanz, Susan Shapiro, David J. Benyosef, Mary Ann Babula, Forrest Whitcher, Robert Philips, Neils La White, Paula Aguilera, Jonathan Williams, Andy Ryan, Jeremy Flower.
PROJECT COLLABORATORS
The GLASS II installation was created by The Mediated Matter Group, MIT Media Lab in collaboration with Lexus for 2017 Lexus Design Awards YET Show at the Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy. Additional collaborators include: Pentagram, Simson Gumpertz & Heger, Front Inc., MIT Central Machine Shop, and Almost Perfect Glass.
IMAGE
© The Mediated Matter Group / MIT Media Lab
© Lexus
PUBLICATIONS
Towards a New Transparency: High Fidelity Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Glass Structures across Scales - Chikara Inamura, Master's Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017
High Fidelity Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Glass Structures - Chikara Inamura, Michael Stern, Daniel Lizardo, Peter Houk, and Neri Oxman, Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposia, International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, 2018.
Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Glass Structures - Chikara Inamura, Michael Stern, Daniel Lizardo, Peter Houk, and Neri Oxman. 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing. Dec 2018
PATENT
Methods and Apparatus for Additive Manufacturing with Molten Glass, Chikara Inamura, Daniel Lizardo, Michael Stern, Tal Achituv, Peter Houk, Neri Oxman, US9919510B2, 2018.
AWARD
G3DP V2: High Fidelity Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Glass Structures across Scales, STARTS PRIZE 2017 Nomination
