This project was made for the Material Syntax studio led by David Correa at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. We were invited to design a building system that would be tested and ultimately fabricated through 3d printing, utilizing a specialized printer designed to work with clay.

We decided to pursue a take on a breeze block and the classic form of the brick, adding a twist to create the hollow spaces in the areas of a wall that would typically be solid. The final product, along with the other studies from the course, were exhibited in the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.

Overall, this was an excellent learning opportunity to develop 3d printing skills beyond the regular thermoplastic realm that consumer printers live in. It was unique to work with a medium that stayed in a plastic state for so much longer, posing potential benefits as well as many challenges. As a team, we developed a clay mix that provided the optimal stability for our purpose, as well as a technique for loading the cylinders to avoid potential for any embedded air bubbles, and the explosions that they later produced.

In collaboration with Mia Calic and Kelsey Rose Dawson