A Mediterranea way to computational furniture design and 3D printing

Biomaterials, new technologies, sustainability, design. Mediterranea – a ‘Mediterranean’ approach to furniture 3D printing – is a new collection showcasing furniture design and furnishings by Medaarch. The design collection debuted at Discovering – Superdesign Show 2021 September Special Edition, held during the special edition of Milan’s Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week events.

In the name of sustainability

Medaarch is a design company active in the field of design and architecture, specializing in innovative and sustainable processes and technologies. Mediterranea is its newest design collection born by combining some of the most advanced design processes with digital fabrication, drawing on to the possibilities of research in the field of eco materials, which have represented the elective area of Medaarch since its founding, in 2007, in Cava de’ Tirreni.

Since 2017, the company successfully managed the Centro per l’Artigianato Digitale, an accelerator that has initiated dozens of artisans to modern digital manufacturing technologies, renewing with contemporary take the manufacturing workshop model that is at the heart of Italian know-how.

Mediterranea is based on a furniture 3D printing approach created through a large format thermoplastic extrusion process. The collection was designed with a computational approach via 3D modeling software. The material used is PLA (polylactic acid) with the addition of natural dye. PLA is a bioplastic derived from the transformation of sugars present in corn and other natural materials that have the characteristic of being renewable and not derived from petroleum. Moreover, PLA is biodegradable and compostable.

Mediterranea, human and technology

The evocative pieces of furniture design created with this material include the chaise longue Vulcano, the low table Stromboli, the chairs Santorini and Ponza. Modeling through design software has made it possible to define bold geometric shapes ensuring the resistance of the surfaces, the dynamism and lightness, and minimizing the use of the material and the consequent weight.

For the Discovering event at Milan Design Week, Medaarch will also present Unique, a collection of ceramic objects created by merging local artisan tradition and digital innovation. The project is based on the writing of a computational design algorithm capable of generating vases to be printed with additive techniques in ceramic material and with a precise morphology, merging technology and the human factor in a mix of unique shapes.

“All the best manufacturing that the world knows with the Made in Italy brand can now live from the analog-digital synthesis”, explained Amleto Picerno Ceraso, designer and co-founder of Medaarch. “Digital has somehow made possible this new holistic vision of the production, by bringing to light the typical methods and approaches of the Italian Renaissance workshop.

In this scenario, Medaarch does not simply put technology at the center of the design but rather uses it while having a defined measure of the human element and a balance with a view to sustainability and with an approach that we love to define as ‘Mediterranean’. And it is precisely this approach that we have instilled in the Mediterranea collections ”.