Dutch design and architecture enthusiast Stef de Vos is the man behind Ittyblox, a set of brilliant, miniature, 3D printed cityscapes he sells through his Shapeways shop. He first caught our eye last summer, and then again in March.
These amazingly detailed and fantastically crafted small buildings epitomize the capabilities of modern 3D printing technology.
“What started with a single building has led to a collection of many different buildings, parks, highways and streets and even more types of urban assets are on their way,” de Vos says. “Ittyblox is for architecture enthusiasts what model trains are for train fanatics and what dinky toys are for car lovers.”
The designer began with a Kickstarter campaign in March to fund his creation of New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building, and he’s now seeking funds to add a miniature version of Amsterdam to the collection.
Printed in Shapeways’ Full Color Sandstone material, the tiny buildings have a coarse finish and a delicate feel.
The small-scale buildings from de Vos have astonishing detail and realistic color.
“The process of designing these buildings, prototyping and redesigning, taking pictures and promoting the models is very time consuming – and therefore – expensive,” he says. “With more resources, these processes can be improved.”
Amsterdam Tower of Coin
He says the funds will be used to purchase better camera equipment, upgrade his photo studio, and hire extra modelers and photo editors, and all of it will be aimed at building and improving the collection.
The Kickstarter project will offer special rewards for early birds, and once the campaign ends, this latest series of buildings will be available at the usual prices in through the Ittyblox webshop on Shapeways.
This round of buildings will feature a few of Amsterdam’s more famous canal houses, a typical 1930s style building, and a 17th century tower. He says his intent is that he’d like people around the world to able to enjoy the classical architecture of cities through his 3D printed buildings.
Printed at a scale of 1:1000, the buildings are typically around 1.177″ x 1.063″ x 0.994″, and they cost as little as $10. Up to this point, de Vos says he’s tried to release a new building every week, and the collection includes classic buildings from the Guggenheim Museum to a Miami set which includes a ’30s art deco hotel typical of that city’s Ocean Drive.
You can check out his Kickstarter for the Amsterdam project, and you can see the existing collection of buildings and dioramas at his Shapeways shop.
Do you have any of the Ittyblox buildings in your collection? Are you interested in supporting this latest Kickstarter campaign from Ittyblox? Let us know in the Tiny 3D Printed Cityscapes forum thread on 3DPB.com.
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