The bench, which is installed in the Town Hall Square, is the work of a student who won a competition and combines Gaudí’s inspiration with new additive manufacturing technologies.
This Saturday, La Pobla de Lillet will debut a 3D-printed concrete bench, the first urban furniture manufactured in three dimensions to be installed in Central Catalonia. The bench is placed in the Plaça de l’Ajuntament, in front of the Romanesque bridge, and pays homage to the architecture of Antoni Gaudí, who left a prominent legacy in this town in the upper Berguedà with the Jardins Artigas and the Xalet del Catllaràs. The event, which will combine art, tradition and technological innovation, is the result of the collaboration between the company Benito Urban, the council, the Lillet Studies Centre, Lagula Arquitectes and the firm Aridditive.
The winning design of a pioneering competition
The piece is the work of Zevin Song, a student at the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, winner of the 1st FormART3D Design Competition . The competition, promoted by the company Benito Urban, received 76 proposals and sought to capture the spirit of Gaudí while exploring the possibilities of additive manufacturing applied to urban furniture.
According to Arnau Miralpeix, Marketing Director at Benito Urban , the competition was born “to promote university-business collaboration, with the UPC CIM Foundation”. The objective of the initiative is “innovation and the commitment to being pioneers in the use of new technologies, such as 3D concrete printing”. Based on this experience, the company and Aridditive will collaborate in the production of 3D printed concrete benches for public spaces.
An informative day
The inauguration of the bank will be this Saturday, September 20, at 5 pm in the Plaza de l’Ajuntament de la Pobla de Lillet, with the unveiling of the bank. At 6 pm, at the Llar del Pensionista Lillet, there will be a first presentation by Marc Zaballa (Lagula and Centre d’Estudis Lillet), who will explain the history of the Asland factory; then a talk by Arnau Cumelles and Roger Uceda (Aridditive), who will present the future of cement with 3D manufacturing; and the event will close with a speech by Arnau Miralpeix (Benito Urban), who will present the projects that the company is promoting with this technology. The day will close with a snack for attendees.
Past and future in La Pobla
The Vall de Lillet preserves a unique legacy of Gaudí. The Artigas Gardens and the Xalet del Catllaràs, in La Pobla de la Lillet, and the Asland cement factory in Clot del Moro (Castellar de n’Hug) are three works that unite nature, modernist architecture and industrial heritage. With the design of the bench by Zevin Song, printed by the company Aridditive, the initiative by Benito Urban is committed to new technologies, where 3D manufacturing is ideal for reproducing Gaudí’s organic geometries that inspire the design. The new bench will create a tangible impact with wavy shapes that evoke Gaudí’s aesthetic layers typical of 3D printing.
