RichRach - 3D printed parametric zippers
Useful information
- Team members
- Daphna Kaplan
- Country
- Germany
- Keywords
- Zipper 3D printing Parametric design Computational design Mass customised Industrial design Fashion Forward
Short Description
Re-inventing the conventional zipper using computational tools and additive manufacturing.
Detailed Description
The zipper has been around for over a hundred years, however it hasn't changed much: it is a functional solution that is mostly hidden or disregarded. RichRach aims to challenge this conception by rethinking how zippers are built and manufactured.
Studying the mechanics of the zipper proved that zippers don’t have to be symmetrical, ?at or linear. Furthermore, Different qualities can be incorporated into new designs: such as circularity and angularity. This new variety of characteristics along with parametric control enable many degrees of freedom in the customisation process by the designer.
Using additive manufacturing for producing zippers enables the creation of limited editions and small scale productions, instead of the limited variety that can be achieved by mass production. Moreover, additive manufacturing enables customising the textures colors and material characteristics of the zippers, therefore makes them more accessible to other disciplines like product design.?
Project Details
- Does your design support sustainable production, embodying circular or regenerative design practices?
Using additive manufacturing give access to local production instead of mass production remotely, moreover, it enables production according to small scales and can reduce the amount of superfluous in the production process.
- Does your design use principles of distribution and open source?
Parametric design goes hand in hand with oped source ideas allowing the distribution of a parametric models between designers to improve the model and allows fashion, product, and other designers to use this new powerful tool.
Any Designer with an access to the zipper model can enter her design restrictions and customise according to her needs.
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