Cliff Kuang for Fast Co.Design:  Remember how just five years ago it seemed like 3D printing was going to take over the world? How it seemed like we’d have 3D-printed cars that we’d be parking in our 3D-printed houses? Things didn’t seem to work outso much. But even while the hype died, companies have been steadily working on the technology.

Two years after MX3D announced a plan to 3D print an entire steel bridge designed by Joris Laarman, the project really is going forward, with anticipated completion sometime next year. The company and it’s chief investor Autodesk agreed to share an exclusive update with Co.Design. What’s fascinating is how much things have evolved, how many problems have been conquered–and where the project goes from here.

A CASE STUDY FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

The bridge is really just a proof-of-concept for printed steel applications that range from shipbuilding to offshore oil rigs. Getting there will require not just better software, but robots that can teach themselves how to get better at 3D printing. “We’re now making huge steps in the volume of objects that can be printed. That’s going to create a significant leap in adoption,” says Gijs van der Velden, who runs MX3D, a startup spun off from Joris Laarman Lab that’s dedicated to commercializing large-scale steel printing.  Full Article: