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In 3D-Printed Sugar

 Liz and Kyle Von Hasseln have developed a method to 3D print edible sugar.

Liz and Kyle Von Hasseln have developed a method to 3D print edible sugar. (courtesy SugarLab)
Liz and Kyle Von Hasseln wanted to bake a birthday cake for a friend but, unfortunately, their rented apartment didn't have an oven. Not to be deterred, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) alumni hit upon a solution that would leave most bakers scratching their heads: They decided to 3-D print one.


 
Earlier that year, the couple had been awarded the school's inaugural Gehry Prize for their work on Phantom Geometry, a 5-axis fabrication study of UV-cured resin within a shallow vat system that responded to real-time feed back and feed-forward mechanisms. "In our graduate work, we were really interested in the way free form fabrication would influence architecture," Kyle recently told AN. "We thought a lot about the potential for the intersection of culture and technology that would be accessible to the public, so printing sugar was that."
Proprietary printing processes fuse sugar crystals together with deformation or discoloration. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
Proprietary printing processes fuse sugar crystals together with deformation or discoloration. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The Von Hasselns began working on a combination of SCI-Arc machinery and printers they built themselves. The initial ambition to 3D-print the entire cake was scaled-back to 3D printing just a sparkling cake topper made only from sugar, a process that Liz likened to a micro architectural challenge. As with any material, working with sugar presented inherent propensities and limitations. However, Liz said the process of working with food had its own distinct challenges. "Because it's a food object, we've found it becomes important to consider those inherent characteristics," Liz said. "People have expectations about what food looks, tastes, and feels like, and its really important to hit those notes, otherwise you have a cool design that might not look like dessert."
Once the designers embraced the inherent qualities of the material, they developed a proprietary 3D printing process capable of fusing sugar crystals together without deforming or discoloring them. The finished product is as white and sparkling as a sugar cube. Though they missed the birthday by a long shot, the end result spelled their friend's name in a cursive scrawl made entirely from sugar.
Sugar Lab currently custom prints sugar for weddings, parties, and corporate events.
Sugar Lab currently custom prints sugar for weddings, parties, and corporate events.
Sugar Lab, the Von Hasseln's company, has yet to build an entire town out of sugar like the utopian village brought to life by Richard Brautigan in his novel In Watermelon Sugar, but the couple has received hundreds of inquiries from around the world. They are also excited about the role of the designer in the 3D printing revolution. "We think what will move the field forward in the future is not solely additional technological enhancement, but how artists, architects, and designers utilize those capabilities," Liz said. "A 3D printer is a tool and what comes of skilled artisans wielding that tool is what will make the technology resonate with people, and make it culturally relevant."
The Von Hasseln's interest in 3D printing began as graduate students at SCI-Arc. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The Von Hasseln's interest in 3D printing began as graduate students at SCI-Arc. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The inaugural Gehry Prize-winning SCI-Arc graduate team has applied their 3D printing knowledge to sugar. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The inaugural Gehry Prize-winning SCI-Arc graduate team has applied their 3D printing knowledge to sugar. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
Sugar was deemed an accessible intersection of culture and technology. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
Sugar was deemed an accessible intersection of culture and technology. (courtesy Sugar Lab)

The Von Hasseln's work with sugar evolved from a thesis focus on structure and materiality. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The Von Hasseln's work with sugar evolved from a thesis focus on structure and materiality. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
"When you work in 3D printing, you have to think about the pattern," said Kyle Von Hasseln. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
"When you work in 3D printing, you have to think about the pattern," said Kyle Von Hasseln. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The design duo approached the printing process like a micro architectural problem. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The design duo approached the printing process like a micro architectural problem. (courtesy Sugar Lab)

Ribbons of 3D printed sugar are formed without deforming or discoloring the crystals. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
Ribbons of 3D printed sugar are formed without deforming or discoloring the crystals. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The process of working with sugar had inherent propensities and limitations, just like any material. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
The process of working with sugar had inherent propensities and limitations, just like any material. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
"People have expectations about what food looks, tastes, and feels like... otherwise you have a cool design that might not look like dessert," said Liz Von Hasseln. (courtesy Sugar Lab)
"People have expectations about what food looks, tastes, and feels like… otherwise you have a cool design that might not look like dessert," said Liz Von Hasseln. (courtesy Sugar Lab)


Dr. EMAD HANI ISMAEEL
                 Ph.D. in Technologies for the Exploitation
                 of the Cultural Heritage .
                 Senior Lecturer in the Dept. of Architecture

                 College of Engineering , University of Mosul 
                 Mosul - Iraq .

E-mail:        emadhanee@yahoo.com
                   emadhanee@gmail.com
                   http://emadhani.blogspot.com/
Tel :           +964 (0)770 164 93 74

 

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