EDG Uses 3D Printing To Resurrect Old Building Facades
Emily Pollock posted on June 18, 2018 | | 58 views
EDG diagram documenting how it made concrete casts from its 3D-printed molds.
Architecture and engineering firm EDG has made waves with its new 3D-printed concrete molds, which can be used to restore old building facades relatively inexpensively. The team calls its style “Modern Ornamental.”
The project was inspired by 574 Fifth Avenue, an ornamented building from the 1940s, which was slated to be demolished because it was too expensive to restore its ornamentation with modern techniques. “This project began with the simple goal of finding a way to salvage and restore many of the deteriorating architectural treasures in New York City, and around the world,” said John Meyer, founder of EDG. “The innate beauty and rich history of these gems were vanishing as the cost of their repair became progressively prohibitive.”
The New York–based company wanted to find a relatively inexpensive method of restoring complex ornamentation, and started looking into 3D printing. While 3D printing parts directly was too expensive and delicate for their needs, 3D printing concrete molds worked far better. The molds were easy to design with the company’s laser scanning capacity, which allowed them to scan and recreate the form of any solid object. “Through exhaustive experimentation, we found the perfect balance of material cost, efficiency and…