Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of the West of England, Bristol
The Evolution of a Sugar Bowl
This output consists of four bowls: the original Denby production bowl (‘China’ by Denby, covered sugar bowl); the Denby test piece in ZCorp plaster material; and a pair of 3D printed ceramic bowls, both printed using the Thomas Allen CAD File, one bowl biscuit fired and one glazed, plus firing setters and the Rhino 3D CAD file. These bowls were the outcome of an AHRC-funded project ‘Solid Free-Form Fabrication in Fired Ceramic as a Design Aid for Concept Modelling in the Ceramic Industry’ (2011-12). The research aimed to prove the commercial viability of 3D printed ceramic bodies as a design tool for the concept modelling of tableware and whiteware for the ceramic industry. Hoskins and Huson combined 3D ceramic firing supports with the UWE patented ceramic 3D printing material, enabling objects to be created without losing shape during firing. Hoskins’ individual contribution was to use CAD software to create the bespoke firing supports. The ability to print directly in a ceramic material compatible with commercial clay is a major advance. The bowls demonstrated the possibility of creating actual industrial production prototypes by 3D printing in a fired and glazed ceramic material.
The bowls are included in the permanent collection held by the Ceramics Department at the V & A, and further sets have been purchased by the AHRC and the Department of Business Innovation and Skills. Exhibited at the Technology Strategy Board Conference 2013. They were the subject of a case study, ‘From Creative Innovation to New Product’, Innovation and the Research Councils UK Report (Winter 2012-13). Hoskins curated a one day symposium ‘Towards a New Ceramic Future’ at the V & A (17 January 2012), has given several conference papers (see portfolio) and written an article, ‘Towards a New Ceramic Future’, Ceramic Review, issue 255 (2012), pp. 64-65.
