Design for Self Assembly of Building Components using Rapid Prototyping

Design of assemblies will become an area of study when using rapid prototyping devices in the architectural design process becomes standard practice. This paper is a presentation of a design process study focused on understanding a method of working with rapid prototyping devices in a creative design process. This paper has an emphasis is on the creation of physically large models. These models are built from many layers of detail and are too large to print on a conventional 3D building device (3D printer). In response to this is a proposal to design assemblies as a means to create models of parts manufactured with rapid prototyping devices. Design for Assembly (DFA) becomes an exclusive process within this method of model making. Designing assemblies as part of a creative design enterprise offers greater knowledge of the building’s construct at an early stage of the process. As an example, there are three physical models built from 3D CAD descriptions for this study. These models are manufactured from various rapid prototyping devices and differing processes of assembly. They are evidence of DFA as a necessary process in architectural design when using rapid prototyping devices.