This model was not only made to show how can 3d printing be used to make furniture, but to show how can 3d printing be used to make Free form structures that are characterized by being lightweight, strong and very beautiful. Those free form structures are composed mainly of flat panels or pipes or studs that have to be connected together to form the free form, the main obstacle was the connections between those flat panels or studs because each connection is different and each free form structure is different, by normal manufacturing techniques producing those connections are very expensive and time consuming.

3d printing can be used to make those connections very fast and we can have our freedom to design and build very beautiful free form structures fast and cheaply, I consider that as an effective way to make the future 3d printed homes.

To avoid buying expensive 3d printers that are able to print exotic strong materials, I used in my example an ancient 3d printer and a metal casting kit that I made for this exact purpose and I think that is the first metal casting kit specifically designed for the direct casting of 3d printed parts and I also offer it for sale to others inside Egypt only for now.

The same concept can be used to make magnificent architectural cladding, home decorations and green houses.

The Free form table was made having in mind that most of the people have no access yet to a metal casting kit so I used bigger sizes that what is really needed so if you want to make it you can by using 8mm aluminum or carbon fiber tubes and print the connections using a strong material because pla will not stand.

3d printed homes - Free form structures - Computational design - Green houses - 3d printed furniture - 3d printed decorations - Parametric form architecture - Metal 3d printing without metal 3d printer - Lost pla casting 

I included the project files that you can open in Prusa slicer and modify the printing settings to match your printer and the material that you are going to use, included also is the stl file and some photos. I do added the .stp file for the tubes and the numbering.

Material needed:

-The filament used was approximately 550 grams or a little bit more.

-The length of the 8mm pipes are 12 meters.

-150 m4 screws 4mm tall 

in the photos you will find:

 1- A photo with the 3d printed connections being numbered and they correspond to the numbers in the .3mf project files, but you can number the 3d printed connections yourself using the .stl file included. Numbering the connections is very important to keep track about their places while you put the table together.

2- A photo showing the length of the pipes in mm

For the top, you can use acrylic, wood, marble or glass. Before cutting the top you will have to measure it exactly after that the free form structure is finished because there is some small tolerance that I included in the design to be able to insert the pipes. I included the .ai file of the top in mm. 

You can see how I made it watching the video in the link below: