Studio RAP Is Turning 3D Printed Ceramics into Moments of Wonder

Studio RAP has been using 3D printing and ceramics to create spaces that feel human, calm, and alive. The studio’s approach can be seen in two recent projects, one in Seoul and one in Dubai. Different scales, different cities, but the same idea, where design and materials are the main focus.

Dubai: Walking Through a Wave of Ceramic

At the entrance of the new Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai, guests now walk between two towering ceramic walls that seem to move like water.

The project is called Blue Voyage, and the name fits perfectly. Each wall stretches about nine meters long and six meters high. Together, they are made from roughly 900 unique ceramic tiles, every single one designed and 3D printed by Studio RAP in its Rotterdam studio. The studio used robot-mounted 3D printing equipment, specifically an extrusion clay printer mounted on a Kuka robotic arm.

“Inside this landmark of contemporary architecture, walls of ceramic tiles move like water, their glazed surfaces shifting with the changing daylight. Each piece is shaped through computational design, digital fabrication, and material experimentation to create a rhythm that feels both crafted and alive,” explains Studio RAP in a social media post.

Up close, the surface feels alive. Lines ripple. Ridges catch the light. What’s more, as the sun shifts during the day, the walls change with it, sometimes calm, sometimes a bit more dramatic. The shapes are inspired by the nearby Gulf, based on the motion of waves and flowing currents without copying them directly.

What makes this special isn’t just the size, though it’s one of the largest 3D printed ceramic architectural installations in the world. It’s the thought behind it. Studio RAP used computational design to shape each tile, but kept full control over how the material behaved, how corners wrapped smoothly, and how everything fit together, the company explained. The result is not overwhelming, just serene.

Seoul: Small Project, Big Step Forward

Thousands of kilometers away, Studio RAP was working on something much smaller, but just as beautiful.

In Seoul, the studio designed and produced a compact installation for Nudake, a high-end Korean dessert brand created by the team behind Gentle Monster, the Korean eyewear company known for its immersive retail spaces. Photos of the project show the finished installation, which wasn’t about scale, but about process.

For the Seoul project, Studio RAP handled everything in-house, from design and digital fabrication to production and installation. The company said it became a testbed for its full 3D printing workflow, helping the team tighten the link between computational design and ceramic craftsmanship.

The studio called it “a small project, a giant leap,” and that makes sense because sometimes innovation doesn’t happen on the biggest stage. Sometimes it happens when a team gets to experiment, refine, and learn.

These projects show how much of Studio RAP’s work happens behind the scenes. From design to fabrication and installation, the studio keeps tight control of the entire process. And that consistency shows, whether the result is a massive ceramic wall or a small interior piece.

Images courtesy of Studio RAP