Hasta La Ideas

London architect Daniel Widrig is presenting a collection of 3D-printed wearable sculptures during Design Miami this week, including one that looks like an exoskeleton.

Widrig‘s Kinesis collection explores the possibility of creating customised 3D-printed products based on a scan of the wearer’s body so they fit perfectly.

“We have been working with body related objects for a while now,” Widrig told Dezeen. “We originally worked with mannequins which we sculpted ourselves based on standard model sizes. Nevertheless we wanted to go a step further this time and create customised objects that literally merge with the human body.”

“Every body is unique and has its individual oddities, so 3D scanning is the only way to manage a total blending between a specific body’s topography and the designed geometry,” he added.

Using a digital model produced by the 3D scan as a starting point, Widrig analysed the parts of the body where the products would be worn and developed forms that are designed to “emphasise and exaggerate them.”

Two of the pieces are designed to be worn around the neck, with one of them intended to resemble “an inflated skin wrapping around the model’s breast and neck area.”

The other neckpiece is inspired by the expansions and contraction of muscular systems. These two objects take the form of a dense amalgamation of curving sections that resemble sinews or tendons.

The third object comprises a series of connected forms resembling vertebrae, which narrow into ribs that fit over the shoulder blades. “It resembles an exoskeleton growing out of the model’s spine,” said Widrig.

All of the wearable products were manufactured by Belgian 3D printing specialist Materialise from a polyamide/nylon powder using a selective laser sintering process.

Widrig explained that the process is ideal for fashion applications as it can be used to create flexible shapes with high levels of detailing and durability.

“Since our first fashion experiments in 2009, we tried to push the limits of SLS by reducing material thicknesses to a minimum where we wanted objects to be flexible, and gradually thickening up where we required more rigid zones,” he said.

The Kinesis collection is on show at design brand Luminaire’s Design+World event in Miami today.

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based on a 3D scan of the body appeared first on Dezeen.