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Restoring China's Forbidden City With 3-D Printing
First time accepted submitter jcho5 writes "China's 600-year-old Forbidden City is looking less forbidding these days. As part of a major restoration, the Chinese Palace museum will use 3D-Printers to re-manufacture and replicate many of the city's most precious and unique objects. From the article: 'PhD student Fangjin Zhang—along with her colleagues at Loughborough Design School in the East Midlands of England—had, for a number of years, been looking into the use of 3D printing as means to restore sculptures and archaeological relics. According to a Loughborough press release, Zhang developed a “formalized approach tailored specifically to the restoration of historic artifacts.” After reviewing Zhang’s techniques, the Palace Museum then invited Loughborough researchers to repair several Forbidden City artifacts, including the ceiling and enclosure of a pavilion in the Emperor Chanlong Garden.'"
dont go there man just dont go there its called forbdin for a reason probaly so just dont go there plz or else the ghosts will get u
-1 insipid?
How is this any different from a manufacturing process using a mould. Why the term '3D printing'?
As I understand it, they take ancient objects from the Forbidden City that are damaged (cracked, parts missing), scan them into a computer with a 3D optical or laser scanner, repair/restore the object/artifact in digital 3D space - using organic modeling tools like ZBrush perhaps - then use a 3D printer to print out the repaired/restored 3D object at 1:1 scale to the original object. It says in TFA, towards the bottom, that the Smithsonian Museum is about to engage in a similar effort of 3D scanning thousands of objects from it collection, and printing 1:1 replicas of them with 3D Printers.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
Because probably they'll be doing a single copy of each, using some hard material that substitutes whatever you pour into moulds. Moulds themselves are frequently done by casting a 3D-printed copy with the mould material.
I do! The 3D printer I ordered a couple weeks ago will hopefully ship this week.
Sadly, Mao and the cultural revolution burned a good percentage of China's history. Things connected to the old dynasties were fare game. Much of their 5,000 year history went in to the fire and they did it to themselves.
One concern about this plan that I would have is the question of how durable the material is. Most of the 3D printer's I've been around/used have only printed a fairly cheap hard plastic. If they're trying to use that, I don't think the plan will go over well. On the other hand, if they use metal(I believe some printers can handle it. I remember shapeways having something to that effect as an offering), it could go over well.
-- (this is a sig) My Computer Programming Forumhttp://www.programers.co.nr/
Today they have the palace grounds, but most of the relics from the Imperial age which were stored there were lost or stolen over the past 90 years.
However, they do have a lot of photos, tapestries and paintings of the pre-Boxer rebellion palace. It's quite interesting that we're at a point now where we can take those photos and use them to recreate on a 1:1 scale items that would otherwise have been lost to us, even if they are just recreations.
Part of the point of these things is that it took a fuckton of effort to make them. The ten thousand layers of laquer on some of the laquer art, for example. Then there's the difference between art and replicas. Some people won't notice, others will but not know what's the matter, and to figure out what you need an expert. The thing is, 3d printers can do a lot, but the je ne sais quoi that makes art you can't replicate with a scan and a machine. Or even with good training and a steady hand.
There's a point in replicas, and they'll remain useful. But it's good to remember that there's also a non-point to them, that there's a reason they're called replicas: They are simply not the original.
I've generally thought of museums as places where you could connect with the past. For example: "This is the actual flag Francis Scott Key was looking at when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner... look at the tears and the holes!"
How long before museums routinely use 3D printing to replicate items that are damaged or considered too fragile to be on display, or too valuable? Once you start "replacing" the missing parts, you're rewriting history. I know the Chinese would never censor or rewrite anything, but what about the French? Would you still want to go the Louvre see the Venus de Milo if she had new 3D printed arms?
Never heard of him. I think it should be either Ch'ien-lung (Wade-Giles) or Qianlong (Pinyin)......
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Once you start "replacing" the missing parts, you're rewriting history.
Are you?
I'd wager that the majority of people living today still falsely believe that the Greeks and Romans were all about boring unpainted statues, thanks to the false impressions given by not repairing damage.
As a former museum professional, the main problem I foresee is damage to real artifacts being caused by outgassing of the cheap plastics usually used in 3D printing applications. Outgassing and leaching of unstable compound are two of the main reasons preservationists generally are very careful to employ inert (and often extremely expensive) materials when restoring the fabric of fragile historic objects.
As a child I used to ride my bicycle on the snowmobile trails behind old Mr. Booth's property. For years, whenever I came upon a section of trail adorned with a large "DANGER! DO NOT ENTER" sign, I would freak out, hop off my bike, and run away as fast as I could. What could be so dangerous behind that sign, I wondered? Bears? Something from that Poe-inspired book of scary tales that the older kids used to read at camp? An FBI sting operation with a shoot-to-kill directive? I had no idea, but I didn't want to find out. I suspect that Mr. Booth would recover my bike each week and return it to my parents, because somehow it always appeared in the basement again, ready for next weekend.
One day, it occurred to me that Mr. Booth might know what the danger was. It was his land, after all. So one day I stopped by his house to ask him about it. I put it off as long as I could, afraid that I would be reprimanded for going anywhere near the sign. Eventually I got up the courage to ask. The answer? There were a lot of rocks on the trail that would damage snowmobiles in the winter. No bears, no FBI, no danger whatsoever to me on my bike. It was an important day my life, as it was the point at which I learned that rules are not absolute, that context matters.
Just a thought - does anyone think that China or the Smithsonian will make the scans available to the public?
There's a large number of 3-d printers in the hobby scene. It'd be very neat to be able to download files and print your own replica work of art.
Because probably they'll be doing a single copy of each, using some hard material that substitutes whatever you pour into moulds. Moulds themselves are frequently done by casting a 3D-printed copy with the mould material.
Single copy!?
Think! We're talking about China here.
Officially, there will be a single copy. But on your way out, a hawker will take you to his shack to try to sell you "the true original."
The Pirate Bay offers 3D object downloads... now and in the future.
As for this article, the Loughborough Design School in the East Midlands of England probably won't hand out the files that "belong" to China.
When the Smithsonian gets its project going we'll see.
Ghosts?
More like panhandlers. You will have to go through a gauntlet of them when you exit the Forbidden City. The PLA cracks down hard on panhandlers inside the City.
Some may disagree with you. Chinese lacquerware can last 2000 years and be worth an awful lot of money. If you're writing from the USA, give us a call in the year 3776 and let us know how you're getting on with your crockery...
You are referring to an entirely different breed of Chinese - a period when quality meant something. Show me something manufactured in the last decade that has the same level of pride of workmanship. It's all garbage, and it's staying that way; whatever cultural/social spark that caused the artisans of the old times to aim high, has been utterly and completely flushed down the toilet. I wonder if there is even a Chinese word for "quality" any more.