The Role of 3D Printer in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Education: An Example of Scaled Urban Furniture

This study emphasises the importance of three-dimensional printers that enable students studying in design departments of universities to produce the products they design within the scope of the course in a physical context. The aim of the study is to analyse the contribution of three-dimensional printers to applied courses by enabling students to experience the process of transforming their two-dimensional and three-dimensional designs made in computer environment into products, to concretise their design ideas and to work with the appropriate moulding technique for mass production. Within the scope of the study, the 1/10 scale production process of the futuristic sitting bench designed by the students of Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design within the scope of ‘Urban Furniture’ course was evaluated. In order to produce the futuristic sitting bench designed by the students and to make it suitable for mass production, the mould of the sitting bench was designed in three dimensions with the moulding technique. The mould of the designed futuristic sitting bench was produced on the printer. Using the mould prepared by the students for the product, the scaled production of the futuristic sitting bench designed in three dimensions was carried out and more than one sitting bench was produced using a single mould. In this process, the students had the chance to experience the production process of the three-dimensionally designed sitting bench with the mould and observed the contribution of the three-dimensional printer to the production process.