Printing clay is a new, digital approach to a familiar material.

While the homogeneous nature of clay has been key to conventional mass industrial and artisanal ceramic production methods (i.e. molds, casts, wheel throwing, etc), the introduction of robotic precision presents a new avenue for the fluidity and malleability of the material to become design generators rather than obstacles preventing reproductions of imposed forms.

This new fabrication system allows us to print objects larger and faster than traditional 3D-printing material systems can achieve, introducing a new and economically feasible intersection for 3D-printing and architecture to operate. However, while the messy and unstable nature of wet clay presents technical challenges in practical applications, there also presents opportunities to harness the unique aesthetic and functional qualities offered by the material and production method.

The display shows the objects produced from the design, research, and development of an interior masonry screen wall and a series of light sculptures. These artifacts examine the expressive and performative opportunities as well as the technical resolutions explored with the use of this new fabrication method.