World wide furniture company Ikea already has everyone putting together their own bookcases, tables, beds, lights, but Hungarian industrial designer Ollé Gellért, wants to take out the middle man, with a collection of 3D printed joints called ‘Print to Build’. the idea is not a moonshot, but a clear realization on where the furniture industry could be going in the future because of the steep price decline of 3D home printers.

To design and construct large objects, ollé narrowed his research, developing and printing just the small joints that are able to connect bigger parts that can be made an assortment of different materials. the joints connect eight millimeter plywood sheets together in a variety of different angles – 90, 45, and 120 degree elements. the key factor to the design of the ‘print to build’ set of joints is the unnecessary need for screws, glue, allen keys or special tools. ollé gellért wants to draw attention to the importance of changing our thinking as to how we build furniture with the help of 3D printers, which in turn, would stop our epidemic addiction to ikea catalogues.

Design: Ollé Gellért
All images courtesy of Ollé Gellért

via designboom