FormART3D: from design competition to public space
A 3D printed concrete urban bench, developed together with Benito Urban and installed in La Pobla de Lillet as the result of the 1st FormART3D Design Competition.
A Gaudí-inspired bench for a town with a cement heritage
FormART3D was born as a design competition promoted by Benito Urban to explore new forms of urban furniture through 3D concrete printing. The call invited students and young professionals to reinterpret Antoni Gaudí’s legacy through the possibilities of additive manufacturing.
La Pobla de Lillet was not a random choice. The town brings together landscape, industrial heritage, cement memory and architecture linked to Gaudí, creating a particularly suitable context for installing a piece that connects material tradition with technological innovation.
The winning design, developed by Zeyin Song, was materialized by Aridditive and installed together with Benito Urban in the Town Hall square, opposite the Romanesque bridge, becoming a real example of how 3D printed concrete can activate public space.
An urban piece between heritage and innovation
The installation that turned a competition design into real urban furniture
The video shows the final result in La Pobla de Lillet: a 3D printed concrete piece integrated into public space and presented together with Benito Urban, Aridditive and the Town Council.
A continuous bench for inhabiting the square
The bench geometry creates different forms of use: support, rest, conversation or contemplation. An urban furniture piece that does not simply occupy space, but proposes new ways of experiencing it.
An organic form manufactured without molds
The bench is configured as a continuous piece manufactured in three modules. This strategy makes it possible to produce, transport and install the whole element efficiently without losing its unified reading.
The texture of 3D printing makes the construction process visible and gives the piece a specific material identity. The printed layer is not hidden: it becomes part of the formal language of the bench and reinforces its contemporary character.
As part of Benito’s catalogue, FormART3D transfers material and formal research into a reproducible system, capable of adapting to new urban environments while maintaining its spatial and expressive quality.
From digital design to built bench
The project connects the formal freedom of digital design with the solidity of concrete, making an organic piece possible without using conventional molds.
From awarded idea to installed piece
FormART3D brings together a full applied innovation process: competition, design, technical adaptation, 3D printing, transport, installation and public inauguration.
FormART3D competition
Benito Urban launched a call for students and young professionals, challenging them to reinterpret Gaudí’s legacy through digital fabrication.
Winning design
Zeyin Song’s design was selected for its ability to connect organic form, urban use and the technical possibilities of 3D printing.
Aridditive manufacturing
Aridditive materialized the piece in three 3D printed concrete modules, adapting the design to a process that was manufacturable, transportable and installable.
Installation and inauguration
The piece was installed in the Town Hall square of La Pobla de Lillet and publicly presented together with Benito Urban, Aridditive and the Town Council.
What FormART3D demonstrates
A standard-scale intervention, but strategic in value: it shows how urban furniture can move from a competition idea to a real, durable and reproducible piece.
Design with local identity
The piece interprets the organic forms associated with Gaudí through a contemporary language linked to the landscape and heritage of La Pobla de Lillet.
Urban furniture without molds
3D concrete printing makes it possible to manufacture complex geometries without the cost, lead time and limitations of traditional molds.
Industrial scalability
The project validates a solution that can evolve into new benches, seats and urban pieces for squares, municipalities, campuses and public spaces.
A first step towards a new generation of urban furniture
FormART3D shows that 3D concrete printing is not only a tool for prototypes or experimental pieces. It makes it possible to manufacture real urban furniture, installed in public space and subject to everyday use.
For Aridditive, the project represents a particularly valuable connection between design, technology, heritage and territory. A piece born from a competition, built layer by layer and ultimately integrated into the daily life of a town.
La Pobla de Lillet · Town Hall square
The FormART3D bench was installed in La Pobla de Lillet, in the Town Hall square, opposite the Romanesque bridge. A setting where heritage, landscape and public space meet, and where 3D printed concrete introduces a new contemporary reading of urban furniture.
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