Neri Oxman Unveils "Gemini" Cocoon-Like Acoustic Chaise Produced with Stratasys Color Multi-Material 3D Printing - Seite 2

In a design commission to explore how materials interact with the human body, the twin chaise features an enclosure which cushions the body within a colored, multi-material 3D printed cocoon, replicating the tranquillity of the womb. A solid wood shell house provides the protective exterior. Lining Gemini from the inside are 44 composite PolyJet digital materials, including color. The 3D printed "skin" uses Stratasys' unique triple jetting technology and combines three base materials: Stratasys' rubber-like TangoPlus, rigid VeroYellow and VeroMagenta, forming varying shades of transparent and opaque yellows and oranges, in different rigidities. The materials, shapes and surfaces of the 3D-printed skin enable a unique vibrational acoustic effect for a quiet calming environment.

"Gemini is fundamentally about the complex and contradictory relationship between twins, which is mirrored in the geometrical forms of the two-part chaise and the dualities that drive their formation, such as the combination of natural and synthetic materials," explains Professor Oxman. "The Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer and technology enabled us to print 44 material combinations that not only target specific pressure points on the body to form a sensorial landscape, but also act as a soundproof anechoic chamber, an architecture for quieting the mind."

Twins born to star 

Gemini features separate, independent parts that together form an enclosure: Gemini Alpha and Gemini Beta. They are inspired by the mythical relationship between the Dioskouri twins, Castor, born of man (named Gemini Beta after the star in the Northern constellation of Gemini) and Pollux born divine (named Gemini Alpha after the second brightest star in the constellation of Gemini).

In keeping with Greek mythology, the first piece, Gemini Alpha, recapitulates the form of a swan, as it is believed that Leda, the twins' mother, became pregnant with Pollux after being seduced by Zeus in the disguise of a swan. Inspired by the lingual root of the word "swan", "sound" or "to sing", Gemini Alpha includes a sound enclosure featuring a range of Stratasys' 3D-printed PolyJet digital materials with varying elastic and acoustical properties. Surface features that are more curved than others are assigned more elastic properties, thereby increasing sound absorption around local chambers.