At one of many world’s most famed museums, historical past and innovation are actually facet by facet. London’s Pure Historical past Museum (NHM) has unveiled a 3D printed ceramic construction that helps a brand new exhibition referred to as Fixing Our Damaged Planet. It kinds the bottom for the shows, artifacts, and multimedia screens. The construction protects the museum’s historic constructing by avoiding direct contact with its partitions and utilizing light-weight, low-impact supplies, displaying how know-how can be utilized rigorously to help heritage areas.
Animal fashions. The Trustees of the Pure Historical past Museum.
The set up is manufactured from 1,686 3D printed clay modules that kind the interior construction of the brand new gallery shows. These printed items are topped with conventional clay tiles, making a clean, sturdy floor to showcase exhibition objects, like animal and plant fashions or interactive screens.
Ceramic 3D printing. Picture courtesy of LAMÁQUINA.
It was engineered and produced by Barcelona-based 3D printing hub LAMÁQUINA, utilizing ceramic 3D printing know-how from Italian development firm WASP. Working with 40% recycled clay sourced from leftover materials within the ceramics business—that will have in any other case been discarded—LAMÁQUINA made the modular elements in simply three months.
This undertaking marks a serious milestone for the museum, which first opened its doorways in 1881. Designed by architect Alfred Waterhouse, the NHM’s Romanesque-style constructing is one in all Britain’s most iconic landmarks, constructed solely out of terracotta. In the present day, the Waterhouse constructing homes a lot of the museum’s fundamental reveals. As a part of the Fixing Our Damaged Planet exhibition, a brand new gallery was created, persevering with the museum’s custom of utilizing sustainable supplies, combining fashionable eco-friendly strategies with respect for the constructing’s authentic structure.
Ceramic 3D printing. Picture courtesy of LAMÁQUINA.
As a result of the construction needed to keep away from touching the unique partitions and keep inside strict weight limits, the architects wanted an answer that was each low-impact and sturdy. After finding out other ways to construct the set up, the crew discovered robotic ceramic 3D printing to be the best choice.
LAMÁQUINA 3D printed the modular clay bases and structural elements utilizing WASP’s clay extrusion know-how, which included a robotic arm setup and the WASP 40100 Manufacturing System. Because of the system’s automated idle curler, manufacturing continued with out interruptions, dashing up the manufacturing course of.
Ceramic 3D printing. Picture courtesy of LAMÁQUINA.
The clay bases and modular elements have been 3D printed, whereas the horizontal capping tiles have been made utilizing a 2D tiling approach. The construction was organized into ten primary modular shapes. Every bit was rigorously formed by robots, with built-in areas for cables and indicators.
One main problem was controlling the clay throughout manufacturing, as a result of the fabric is delicate to adjustments in temperature and humidity. So the crew needed to monitor every bit intently to trace any shrinkage or warping. They used this info to regulate the digital designs and make sure the ultimate components have been inside 5 millimeters of the meant measurement.
The components have been later fired at Ceràmica Cumella, the place a number of items have been baked directly in kilns powered partly by renewable vitality. After firing, the ceramic items have been transported to the museum and put collectively with out glue or mortar, utilizing biopolymer joints, so the construction may very well be constructed with out inflicting any injury to the historic constructing. The complete construction was put in in simply ten days.
Ceramic 3D printing. Picture courtesy of LAMÁQUINA.
Fixing Our Damaged Planet is the primary of six new galleries deliberate because the Pure Historical past Museum prepares for its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary in 2031. The exhibition is devoted to selling sustainable options to world environmental issues, making it an excellent launch for this bold redevelopment plan. It explores how the meals we eat, the vitality we use, and the issues we purchase have an effect on our well being and the planet. It additionally brings collectively over 200 specimens, from a Sumatran rhino to an historical cow cranium, to point out our impression on the pure world and level to methods to repair it.
Grownup bison within the vitality zone. The Trustees of the Pure Historical past Museum.
Because the Pure Historical past Museum celebrates its 145th anniversary this yr, it stays one in all London’s prime cultural sights. In 2024, it was the second most visited website within the metropolis, drawing 6.3 million guests, in accordance with the Affiliation of Main Customer Points of interest (ALVA). Identified all over the world, the museum stands out for its groundbreaking analysis, historic structure, and huge collections that proceed to encourage tens of millions yearly.
The Trustees of the Pure Historical past Museum.
Doug Gurr, Director of the Pure Historical past Museum, highlighted the worth of the undertaking throughout the gallery’s opening: “This isn’t solely speaking the discuss on sustainability, it’s strolling the stroll,” he mentioned.
The museum exhibits how heritage websites can use new know-how and nonetheless respect their historical past and dedication to sustainability.
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