Rotterdam-based architecture studio Studio RAP has clad the two gates of the PoortMeesters residential building block with 3D dimensional blue porcelain in the historic Dutch city Delft, the Netherlands.

Called New Delft Blue, the project reinterprets the world-famous decorative qualities and design vocabulary of Delft Blue porcelain within the inner part of the gates. 

By fusing 3D clay printing, computational design, and artisanal glazing, New Delft Blue hopes to unfold a new architectural potential of ceramic ornamentation in the 21st century.

The two gates are covered with approximately 3,000 unique ceramic tiles, which are 3D printed. This technique allows for the creation of contemporary ceramics that are both rich and unique.

The lush communal courtyard of the PoortMeesters residential building block, which is part of the large-scale urban redevelopment project Nieuw Delft, is enclosed by two large entry gates. 

These gates, measuring approximately four meters wide, eight meters high, and twelve meters deep, cover a large public staircase. 

They are a nod to Delft's history as a medieval trading city with many city gates and offer passers-by a glimpse of the peaceful and charming life inside.

The design of the New Delft Blue gates is inspired by traditional Delft Blue porcelain plates. Over the centuries, the design style of these plates has evolved from imitating Chinese and Japanese Oriental designs to featuring contemporary Dutch designs. 

However, the distinction between a decorative, nature-inspired frame and an idyllic scene has remained consistent. 

This distinction forms the basis of the New Delft Blue design, where the ever-changing courtyard life serves as the idyllic scene, while the gates themselves act as a three-dimensional frame with algorithmically-designed, nature-inspired patterns that guide people from the public space to the semi-public courtyard.

The studio used an algorithmic approach was for the 3D pattern design, taking into account manufacturing constraints such as maximum overhang, width, height and depth, shrinkage, and internal support structure when generating the geometry of the tiles. 

By 3D printing the tiles and applying variations to their shapes, poetic ways of ‘painting with shapes’ were achieved.A transparent blue runny glaze is applied to the tiles to create a light blue color on the convex portions (the hills), while allowing for deep blue glaze pools in the concave (valley) areas, creating smooth transitions between the hues of blue. 

The deep blue color reflects the connection to Delft Blue porcelain and the surrounding canals, providing a pleasing contrast to the earth-toned brickwork of the building.

Overall, the project embodies the unique identity of Delft in a contemporary way. It references the city's history with its algorithmically-designed, nature-inspired patterns in blue, and reflects Delft's status as a city of knowledge by using cutting-edge design and 3D printing technology.

The studio aspires to reclaim the architect's significant role in the built environment's design and realisation process. 

To demonstrate that a more prominent role in the design and realisation of a building process could work, the team took matters into their own hands with new entrepreneurship, combining architectural design, digital fabrication, and contracting. 

"This came with a new architectural language, one that is expressive as much as it is contemporary, and which breathes digital craftsmanship," said Studio RAP. 

"We aspire to bring custom-made ornamentation back into architecture by combining cutting-edge digital design and fabrication technology."

"New Delft Blue is a statement to enrich the world with a new architectural language that breaks barriers by innovating how the world is envisioned, built, and experienced, making it more exciting and diverse," the studio added.

Conceptual diagram

Conceptual diagram

Studio RAP also created a façade for a boutique, featuring a bespoke 3D-printed ceramic tiles and bricks on Amsterdam’s P.C. Hooftstraat, the Netherlands.

Project facts

Project name: New Delft Blue

Completed: 2023
Client: BPD (Bouwfonds Property Development), Ballast Nedam Development, Ballast Nedam Bouw West

Architect New Delft Blue: Studio RAP
Contractor and 3D ceramic printing: Studio RAP

Glazing and Firing: Koninklijke Tichelaar
Architect PoortMeesters: VY Architects
Mounting: Kooistra Geveltechniek
Rear structure: Lomax Systems
Movie: Oculus Film  

All images © Riccardo De Vecchi.

> via Studio RAP

3D printing blue ceramic porcelain residential Studio RAP