Oregon Dragon by Joris Laarman has recently been installed at the new LeBron James Building, home to Nike’s Beaverton-based Advanced Innovation team.
Joris Laarman has started working with robots around 2010 and soon saw their benefits. By combining robots with smart control software and advanced welding machines, Laarman is able to use them for large-scale 3D printing with metals such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, bronze or copper, without the need of supporting structures. Joris Laarman’s Dragon Bench series, debuted at Friedman Benda’s exhibition “Joris Laarman Lab: Bits and Crafts” in 2014, are the first sculptural pieces created with this newly developed robotic metal printer technique called MX3D.
The Oregon Dragon aims to push the boundaries in terms of sculptural presence and size. The aim is to include a “structural gradient” in the object that is both structurally functional and beautiful. A “structural gradient” refers to a structure that densifies where structural stability is required and opens up where weight can be reduced.
