Roos Meermans Aera Fabrica - 3D Printing Industry 22/12/14 18:08

Glass Blown 3D Printing: Roos Meermans Aera Fabrica

By combining different forms of production, Roos Meerman has created something called Aera
Fabrica. The process combines elements of blow molding, 3D printing, and glass-blowing
techniques. Essentially, each piece utilizes the elemental forces of temperature and air to inflate
and customize the already customizable prints produced with a 3D printer. Inspiration for the
technique developed from an investigation into scientific experiments illustrating the fantastical
effects of when different objects are exposed to various forces and conditions.

Each piece carries a uniqueness beyond typical 3D prints that seek a finished form upon
printing. With Aera Fabrica, the objects

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take on different dimensions, often bulbous, when reacting to

air pressure or heat. Meerman explains, From an experiment
with
stretching plastic, I moved to seeing the plastic form as a balloon
that you can blow up. By heating up the balloon, it is made
flexible and can be transformed. Cooling it solidifies the form
again. In contrast with the glassblowing technique, with Aera
Fabrica I determine the form before the inflating process, which
allows me to more influence on the final form.

The contrast in shades of color and strain results in striking

visual phenomena oft expressed in scientific models and
experiments. Many of the objects resemble organelles
meandering in cytoplasm, vacuoles blown and magnified by the magic of 3DP.

Roos Meerman comments on the inspiration, I watched videos

of scientific experiments and I was enchanted by the seemingly
magical way in which material can change. I did several
experiments with, for example, air pressure and sound waves
and materials with which it is possible to expose the processes.
The result is a snapshot of a point in a process, the result of the
interaction between the laws of science and the freedom of
movement of the material.

As the source indicates, the information for this article came

from a project that deserves a Kickstarter. Anything that
combines an ancient technique, a hard art like glass-blowing,
and innovative artistic production typified in 3D printing
certainly demands consideration. Roos Meerman has given light to forms that call out for a
closer look, to be held, to be examined and reproduced.

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