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Fab-Union / Archi-Union · PROFESSIONAL · DESIGN · FAB LAB

Happy Valley East Gate

World's Largest Modified-Plastic 3D-Printed Structure

Context
Fab-Union / Archi-Union — Professional Project
Role
3D Printing Process Development
Year
2022
Practice
DESIGN · FAB LAB
Location
Nanjing, China
Status
COMPLETED
Inside the completed Happy Valley East Gate — red 3D printed panels over the plaza

Overview

A landmark entrance and public plaza for Nanjing Happy Valley, exploring the integration of computational design and robotic fabrication at architectural scale. Multi-agent crowd-flow simulations were mapped into vector fields that informed the spatial organization, and computational geometry generated a hyperbolic structure unifying architecture and circulation. The continuous surface was subdivided into thousands of panels, robotically 3D-printed in modified plastic, prefabricated in the factory and assembled on site as modular components.

The 30-metre cantilevered gate with pixelated red panels
Site analysis and multi-agent force-field simulation
3D printed modified-plastic panels in six shades of red

Responsibilities

  • 3D printing process development for the robotic fabrication of all printed panels
  • Digital decomposition of complex non-standard components and data-pipeline design for millimeter-level industrial delivery

Methodology

  • Crowd Flow Simulation & Computational Form Generation — multi-agent simulations mapped visitor movement into vector fields; computational geometry generated a hyperbolic structure integrating architecture and circulation
  • Parametric Panelization — the continuous surface subdivided into thousands of panels through geometric algorithms for fabrication and structural integration
  • Robotic 3D Printing Fabrication — each panel robotically printed in modified plastic, digitally encoded and prefabricated in the factory
  • Digital Construction & Installation — a numbering system and CNC laser positioning ensured accurate on-site installation of all printed components

Outcomes

  • One of the world's largest 3D-printed architectural structures, forming the theme park's landmark entrance gate and plaza
  • Hyperbolic geometry and pixelated colored panels creating an immersive spatial experience while organizing large-scale visitor circulation
  • A demonstrated workflow linking computational design, robotic printing and digital construction