Rob Henderson | BE-AM Symposium 2025

Introducing our last BE-AM 2025 speaker in the category industry:
Rob Henderson (etcetera) will present about design vision and application in 3D printing.

"We considered 3D printing and its unique material output equivalent to another groundbreaking innovation that reshaped design in the mid-20th century: fiberglass. Charles and Ray Eames pioneered comfort with high-tech material in the postwar era. Today, 3D printing is driving a similar revolution. With the Septa rocking chair, our goal was to achieve a minimal, lightweight, and comfortable form while meeting the challenge of combining elegance with industrial-scale 3D printing, known as Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM).
We studied successful rocking chairs and identified recurring essentials: seat angle, back tilt, and the radius of rails. As an extra feature, we designed Septa to rock in two directions and spin. Exploring forms within the logic of robotic 3D printing—continuous motion without pause — meant rethinking both structure and infill. Infill, normally hidden and optimized by software, became an integral visible element of our design. So, rather than letting algorithms generate the interior, we designed the infill ourselves, giving the chair structural integrity and expressive character. Septa’s form and production emerges from two alternating curves, creating a continuous closed loop essential for robotic printing.
These challenges opened a close collaboration with Nagami and Differential. To achieve something beyond standard production Nagami extended its processes. Together we are finalizing colorways and production methods. Soon, Septa will be printed within a day, and potentially twenty-one at a time, available both in serial production and as limited special editions."

Contact: [email protected]
BE-AM: https://be-am.de
DDU: https://www.dg.architektur.tu-darmsta...
ISM+D: https://www.ismd.tu-darmstadt.de

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