Flatbed Printing

The distinction between representation and building is fundamental for architects. But images make up a larger and larger part of the built environment: printed signs, billboards, construction netting, and building facades.

Flat Bed Printing 1

Printed cork and aluminum

These images are made possible by new thin substrates, adhesive and ink technologies, and widely available large format, flat-bed printers.

Flat Bed Printing 2

The coplanarity of image and building material suggests not only new architectural capacities but new modes of construction, tectonic systems, and assembly details.

Flat Bed Printing 3

Working with industry partners and students at SCI-Arc, FreelandBuck fabricated a series of large, printed objects that function as both image substrates and architectural assemblies. They were exhibited in the 2021 exhibition Views from the Field at the SCI-Arc Gallery in Los Angeles.

Flat Bed Printing 4

Printed samples using four different substrate materials (clockwise from upper left): aluminum, mirror, wood veneer, cement board

Flat Bed Printing 5

Inlaid panels before printing

Flat Bed Printing 6

Inlaid panels after printing

Project Team: Luiza De Souza, Moriah Haley, Cole Masuno, Zane Mechem, Ken Mishima

Original Photographs Courtesy of SOM

Copyright Orlando R. Cabanban, William Lukes, Ezra Stoller I /Esto