Blog 03: “Twisted Belly Vase”

By Ilia Urgen
Section B

Twisted Belly Vase is a 3D printed object created on April 25th, 2022 by Instagram artist namu3d. The original size of the figure was 80mm by 60mm, but the model was printed 60% larger. Altogether, the print took around one-and-a-half, which is the average print time for a model of this size.

There are many features that make the Twisted Belly vase stick out, and my favorite design feature is the flow of the rather-vertical lines around the vase’s upper and lower diameters. The thinning neck around the center of the vase gives off the hourglass aesthetic, with the “belly” of the vase greatly expanding in proportion and then once again, returning to its original diameter size.

The software used to 3D print this vase was MakerBot, a highly ubiquitous design program. It allows the creator to explore various vector scales, rotations, and linear parallel lines, which are just three of many possible functions and variables when it comes to computational fabrication.

The creators of Twisted Belly Vase, namu3d, has made other aesthetically-pleasing vases, bowls, and cylindrical elements. His design style involves simple, yet complex-looking geometric shapes and unusual rotations. I have a deep appreciation of namu3d’s design style because I too, find beauty in the simplest geometric shapes found in the world around us.