5.5 designstudio is hacking your everyday objects with 3D printing

Posted By Arthur Cassaignau on Jun 10, 2015 | 3 comments

In France, if there is one product EVERYONE knows, it’s probably the Duralex “Picardie” glass. Since their chidlhood, French people see their products almost everyday at school and at the workplace. The glass is known to be very robust, doesn’t ask for much care and even provides some amusement. All those who once ate in the school canteen, played the age game by reading the mould number – 1 to 48 – on the bottom of each glass.

After 70 years of good and loyal service, Duralex reached out to 5.5 designstudio to see how they could hack their products and offer something new to this iconic cups. 70 years is something special, so 5.5 designstudio came up with 70 original design to “augment” this famous object.

“A duralex glass is the very essence of what we believe about design. An integrated and timeless object, there’s nothing gratuitous or artificial about its conception. Functionality is everything, and that’s what makes it beautiful.” – Jean-Sébastien Blanc of 5.5 designstudio

This accessory collection gives new functions to this legendary object, part of little moments of everyday life. The idea is to let anyone download the 3D files and 3D print the different designs themselves. It was inherently linked to the project. To 3D print the best possible versions of those 3D files, 5.5 designstudio reached out to Sculpteo to know more about the different materials and finishes available with 3D printing. Definitely, using our plastic material is the best choice.

Our plastic material is a strong material (as in hard to break) but it remains flexible on thin sections of the design. It’s also possible to create moving parts that will be printed in one go and don’t require an assembly. That way designers were able to fully go from their most imaginative idea to the real object. For the finish of the 3D print, 5.5 designstudio picked the plastic in its polished and colored version. You’ll find more information about this material here or even its technical datasheet here.

Where can you see these? The Duralex Picardie add-ons are being presented at 5.5 designstudio’s workspace in 8, rue popincourt in Paris until June 13th, from 12-7PM. They will also soon be available, in a version printed by Sculpteo, at the store of the famous Centre Pompidou.