Frank Lloyd Wright's Annie Pfeiffer Chapel brought back to life using 3D printing

Not even a decade ago, the cost to recast the handmade cement block structures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Annie Pfeiffer Chapel on the campus of a Florida Southern College was prohibitively expensive.

But today, as 3D printing technology improves and becomes more affordable, the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel was recently restored in precise architectural detail, Design Milk reports.

The chapel was constructed using Wright’s signature textile block building system, utilizing student labor in the years between 1938 to 1941. More than 6,000 tapestry blocks decorated into 46 unique designs were individually cast from coquina and concrete.

Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources and a $350,000 grant provided by the Save America’s Treasurers Program of the National Park Service, the chapel’s splendor was restored. The Florida Southern College reports that by using 3D printers purchased with these grants, restorers were able to create molds for the intricate concrete blocks that were originally constructed by hand.

Consistent with Wright’s original design, 2,000 distinctive colored glass tiles were created and inserted into the manufactured blocks.

Learn more on the chapel’s restoration and see the equipment in action at Florida Southern College news.

Two of Perkins Eastman’s firm leaders—Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, Vice Chair and Managing Principal of its New York City studio, and Barbara Mullenex, AIA, Managing Principal of the Washington, D.C., studio—will share anecdotes about their personal journeys to the top of a global architecture, design, and planning firm, at Building Design+Construction's fourth annual Women in Design+Construction Conference. The event will take place November 11-13, 2019, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Row New York Boathouse, courtesy Foster + Partners

Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jun 27, 2019

Foster + Partners unveils design of wooden boathouse for Row New York

The project will sit on the banks of the Harlem River in Sherman Creek Park.

A new McKinsey report says factory-built modular construction could be next big shift in the industry.

Building Tech | Jun 26, 2019

Modular construction can deliver projects 50% faster

Modular construction can deliver projects 20% to 50% faster than traditional methods and drastically reshape how buildings are delivered, according to a new report from McKinsey & Co.