3D printed joints and PVC pipes for a diagrid structure

3D printing has been projected for long to disrupt the current practice of the industry. Yet, in the field of architectural design, its application has been mostly limited to a way of representing scale models. 3D printing has allowed normal users to design and build parts on their own, bypassing the traditional factory and creating a human friendly alternative to it for the traditional factory to spread out, the possibility of everyone using 3D printing for their own projects becomes even more interesting. In this way, designers take advantage of the potentials of an integrated digital chain, from complex geometry parametric modeling, to structural optimization and automated manufacturing. This paper presents results of an ongoing research on 3D printing application of joinery elements for a 1:1 prototype assembly. The structure of the prototype will represent a diagrid structure. Diagrids offer high performance due to their stability, high material-efficiency as well as structural complexity. As the joints would require to be unique, 3D printing offer a solution at a reasonable price. Our solution aims at improving flexibility in design, ease of assembly, and as aesthetic appearance. The research is based on 1 built full-scale project as well as 3 study models that followed the same methods but were limited to scaled study models. The paper discusses methodology, results and a discussion.