Guide to 3-D Models for Architects

To see a video of this material go to SweetOnionCreations.com

Understanding 3D printing can be a little daunting at first but it actually can be easily absorbed over a breakfast of pancakes. How to successfully make those pancakes is a bit trickier but the general idea is the same. The technology is finally here to take what exists on a computer screen and make it a physical object -- any physical object. Accurate, to-scale models can now be built without the crude tools of a razor blade or balsa wood. It goes by the somewhat formal name "3D printing" but it works just like a stack of pancakes.

How it all works: From Computer to Powder to 3D Model
A plate of round pancakes can be stacked one on top of another to form a cylinder. Make square pancakes, stack them up, and a cube is born. More complicated shapes require irregular shaped pancakes but they still get stacked one on top of another to form a solid object. So, a pyramid would simply be a triangle with smaller and smaller shapes stacked one on top of another to a point.

For 3D printing, the process starts with a white powder that resembles corn starch in consistency and is almost food-grade in quality. On the computer, a house or hillside is sliced up digitally and made into an outline or "pancake." From here it is fed into the machine and each outline of that pancake traced out using a small tube on an “x and y” axis. This tube squirts out a sugar-water binder to temporarily glue that layer together. Over time each stack eventually resembles whatever organic shape is needed. But these are pretty thin pancakes -- about 59 exists in a single inch.

However, the success of the architecture model hinges on a perfect Computer Aided Design (CAD) file and a pristine electronic representation must first be assembled. A premier 3D model rests on this crucial foundation and is typically the most tedious and difficult task of the entire process of going from 2D to 3D. If not carefully produced, a corrupt CAD file causes the model to "blow up" in the machine and the result is fragments of building materials that simply crumble upon removal.

Sustainable Modeling:
The excess powder surrounding the model during production serves to support the structure and is later delicately blown off using an air-brush. This excess powder is reclaimed, sifted to remove debris, and recycled back through the machine. This helps Sweet Onion Creations to keep raw material waste at around roughly 3% per model being built.

Ripe for Revolution:
What does this mean about the architect/client relationship? Well, a shift is quietly building in the field of architecture. The traditional blueprint provided snap shots of a design but left a client closing their eyes and struggling to assemble an image in their mind. Computer renderings provided a static picture of what that idea might look like but failed at transferring emotion. 3D fly-throughs still occur in two-dimensions.

The architecture model is ready to reenter the design conversation. Only this time it can be a painless process and the results are exact recreations of an idea.

The tools of Computer Aided Design (CAD) design software have allowed architects like Frank Gehry to stretch what was possible for design. As the industry starts to adopt the Building Information Management (BIM) platform, opportunities exist to leverage what's built in the virtual world and translate that to the physical.

These tools can be fully leveraged in the real world to build precise architecture models that not only look like the structure to be built but complete the missing puzzle piece for truly communicating with a client. A bit of digital magic, corn-starch like powder, and sugar water all mixed together provides the tools to let architects design at the next level and take their clients along with them.

Seeing in 3D is Believing
So, what does the future hold for architects looking at the next tool to better communicate with their clients? The days of all-nighters cutting foam-core boards are numbered. Today, architects can focus on what they do best, which is design, and leave the model-making to technology. Sweet Onion Creations hopes to ease this transition by eliminating the tedious CAD work required and instead have premier architecture models simply show up for that all-important client presentation. The tools for this revolution are bits and bytes and the effects will be happier clients.

About Sweet Onion Creations
Sweet Onion Creations was founded in 2006 in Bozeman, Montana, and builds premium 3d scale architecture models. The company offsets its environmental impact with renewable energy credits and recycles its raw material waste. The entire process for model building can take place via the company’s website and models are shipped directly to the client. Examples of the company’s current work can be viewed online in its Gallery section.



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