On July 18th, Chattanooga-based architectural fabricator Branch Technology unveiled the world’s largest 3D-printed structure, a bandshell pavilion measuring 20-feet-tall and 42-feet-wide. The pavilion was first announced in Cambridge, Massachusetts during MIT’s 2018 International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures. The structure is located in Nashville’s emerging smart-city neighborhood, OneC1TY.
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Reported by Architect Magazine, the carbon fiber-reinforced Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene sculpture was designed in collaboration with Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE Studio. Using Branch’s Cellular Fabrication, or C-Fab, technology, the structure was printed as 36 separate sections over the course of 10 weeks. Then, the sections were transported and assembled on site.
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The pavilion weighs approximately 3,200 pounds, with the largest section reaching just under 300 pounds. To comply with Nashville’s normal building code, Branch Technology’s design possesses a structural strength capable of withstanding up to 12 inches of snow and a 90mph wind load.
In a statement, Branch Technology describes the cellular matrices produced by C-Fab as allowing “for efficient builds and endless geometric form.” In terms of architectural application, “the matrix acts as a formwork or scaffold to accept traditional building materials.”
![](http://techplusexpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img_4008.jpg)
In a 2016 collaboration with SHoP Architects for Design Miami, Branch Technology created the Flotsam & Jetsam pavilion which was similarly composed of an undulating network of cellular matrices.