The turgid collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the earth is at Florida Southern College . Depending on how you count , there are 7 to 12 buildings , the most distinctive of which is Annie Pfeiffer Chapel . Time has read its bell on the chapel ’s one - of - a - variety concrete blocks , but it ’s the 21st century , and we now have a advanced answer to fix them:3D printing .
Child of the Sun , as the group of Wright - designed building is call , was built over two decades between 1941 and 1958 . A few years ago , the architecture firmMesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects ( MCWB)was brought on to restore the buildings .
Annie Pfeiffer Chapel during the restoration . Credit : MCWB architect
The Pfeiffer Chapel presented a special challenge . Thousands of Wright ’s signature tune material blocks make up the bulwark of the chapel . clock time — as well as a hurricane and a fail renovation attempt — have not been kind to the crumbling concrete blocks . With the original handcraft molds lost , reproducing the patterned blocks would have been prohibitively expensive .
enrol the 3D printing refurbishment labor , funded by $ 50,000 from the Florida Division of Historical Resources and $ 350,000 from the National Park Service ’s Save America ’s Treasures Program . Rather than impress concrete block , the architect print charge card molds to rove the concrete . Some handmade parts were lend to finalize the clay sculpture , but the machines importantly lightened the traditionally project - intensive summons .
Molds being 3D printed . credit entry : Florida Southern College
The restoration at Pfeiffer Chapel is still in progression , and the architects are perfecting their mold printing process . Should it all work out , 3D printing could one day have a major role in the close restoration of buildings . To start , Wright designed several iconic textile houses , all made of concrete , all aging , all potential candidate someday for 3D printing process restitution . [ Metropolis , Florida Southern College ]
Top figure : Creative Commons
3D printingArchitecture
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