Functional 3D-printed ceramics from Olivier Van Herpt

If we’re honest we lost interest in 3D printing for a bit there. After all the home-made gun controversy and the constant assurances it would democratise production processes forever more we had to deal very quickly with the reality that most desktop 3D printers were only capable of producing very small objects, and the materials they made them from were structurally unsound. We’re still holding out hope though.

One man responsible for giving us hope is Dutch designer Olivier Van Herpt. The Eindhoven-based (where else?) experimental designer has been playing with various mechanical printing processes for some time, 3D printing shoes that fit the wearer perfectly, sculptural structures made from dripping wax, beautiful clay pots created with an early extruder prototype and finally some incredibly functional ceramic homeware.

Now he’s capable of printing geometrically complex functional objects like bowls and plates, as well as large-scale decorative pieces. All are made with his custom-designed extruder that prints in layers of varying sizes. The pattern and scale can all be controlled by Olivier, giving a unique finish to each new object and a distinctly hand-crafted feel to something that’s mechanically produced. So now we’re excited about 3D printing again.