Wood, salt, and wonder: The renewable future of 3D printing

Gizmodo.com
Ph: Emerging Objects

Emerging Objects, a fabrication studio founded by Ronald Rael, Assistant Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley, and Virginia San Fratello, Assistant Professor of Interior Design at San Jose State University was recently featured for their their work in 3D printing fabrication on Gizmodo. Unlike most 3D printing research these days, they’re not interested in the machines—instead, they focus on the materials that go into them.

Using a standard powder-based 3D printer, they and their students have figured out how to print bricks, components, and furniture using recyclable materials including salt harvested from San Francisco Bay, wood pulp, and clay. Thanks to reinforcement techniques developed in-house, these objects are remarkably strong, and are also 90% less expensive that current 3D printing technology.