If you happen to be in London, head to the south end of Tower Bridge, follow a narrow alleyway and you’ll soon be at the London Design Museum. It’s by no means the biggest museum in London, but it is the one with a pretty decent presentation of additive manufacturing on display this year.
You’ll be tantalized in their lobby, where they have a display of 3D printed Fonts. Yes, Fonts. The formerly 2D shapes have been extruded and twisted into various cool shapes. This one is “Bodoni”.
Inside the exhibition proper, you will see a basic fablab in operation, staffed by a couple of expert operators. The fablab includes (as you see above) a MakerBot Replicator 2 and a Form 1 resin 3D printer. They’ve also got a laser cutter, printer and other small manufacturing equipment.
What do they do with these machines? They make stuff, obviously. Here’s a display of some of the items they’ve made onsite.
Beyond the fablab there are numerous displays of fine 3D printed pieces, such as this table of smaller items, which includes a fantastic 3D printed lung at the top.
Another large area displays Makie dolls, made by MakieLab. It’s an online design tool where you develop and outfit a doll – and then 3D print it. The display at the museum shows how the pieces fit together into amazing characters as these.
Finally, a startling collection of 3D printed lampshades will illuminate your imagination. They even have an interactive app that was used to create the lampshade designs. You can twiddle parameters to develop a unique shape, designed by you! Unfortunately, you can’t print it out.
Nevertheless, we highly recommend visiting the London Design Museum. You won’t be disappointed.
