Rippling Waves Of 3D-Printed Ceramic Tiles Flow Along This Dutch Passageway

3D printing has come a long way since its early days. It can now be found in almost every industry, from medicine to food to construction. One of the key advantages of the tech is its ability to rapidly prototype and manufacture complex shapes with high precision. It allows designers, engineers, and innovators to turn their ideas into tangible objects quickly and cost-efficiently. 
 
As is the case of the architectural firm Studio Rap which uses 3D printing to create an archway lined with ceramic.

The New Delft Blue archway can be found in a housing project in the Dutch city of Delft, where it took inspiration from traditional Royal Delft Blue porcelain. Here, the team mixed a clay-based mixture to print a three-dimensional pattern of tiles that resembles waves rippling along the walls.
 
Studio Rap used an industrial robotic arm with a custom extruder to lay the mixture for each tile and create this organic pattern. One individual tile measures around 11 by 15 by 2.7 inches, and it took the studio 15 minutes to complete each.

A glaze was fired onto the final product to give it a traditional porcelain texture. In total, around 3,000 tiles line the passageway. Studio Rap hopes this would open up a new avenue of “architectural potential of ceramic ornamentation of the 21st century.”
 
 
 
[via New Atlas and Dezeen, images via Studio Rap]