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HowTo: Print Cement

Jul 22, 2010 05:00 PM

Printers are getting pretty high tech these days. Print a building, print some organs... and now, print your own cement sculptures.

3D concrete printing process with a robotic arm shaping material on a flat surface.

Internationally renown artist Anish Kapoor teamed up with Factum Arte to develop an apparatus that "prints" cement. In 2009, he began making sculptures with this technique, which were showcased at London's Royal Academy.

"The Identity Engine is a shit machine that farts and craps its way along its ordained path, transforming concrete into stigmergic, self-organised structures. Wounds and gashes, pleats and folds emerge at will and either self-heal or continue to rupture. -(excerpt from Kapoor's book, Unconformity and Entropy, which can be purchased here.)

Abstract sculptures made of textured materials in a workshop setting.

Industrial 3D printing setup in a workshop.

Construction worker pouring concrete from a mixer.

Textured surface of a concrete structure.

3D concrete printing setup with layered material build.

Industrial machine for compressing materials into a cube shape.

3D-printed sculpture made of brown material on a platform.

Artistic sculptures made of textured gray material, resembling organic forms, displayed in a studio.

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