Looking Outward – 03

Digital Grotesque is a creation of architecture where the artist, Benjamin Dillenburger, uses algorithms to generate the geometry, and then uses sand printing to create the builds. The 3D printed sandstone parts (which are made up of sandstone and resin) can then be connected together to make up the completed piece, and it is huge. It is essentially printing architecture!! The artist uses a computer to generate very intricate, complex parts, and it is absolutely amazing to me that the computer was able to execute this amount of detail at such a large scale without needing any intervention. I also really admire the use of texture that is able to come through. Dillenburger shares that the precision is down to millimeters and that this kind of detail could never be drawn by hand as there are 260 million facets and 30 billion voxels. I often have thought about how modern buildings have lost their detailed quality, and this technology makes me wonder how the future of architecture and style could change with generative processes and technology.

Title: Digital Grotesque (2013)
Artist: Benjamin Dillenburger
Link: http://benjamin-dillenburger.com/grotto/