Istanbul Design Biennial: Belgian design studio Unfold have created a 3D printed ceramic filter for an open source water boiler and purifier that was developed by Jesse Howard in collaboration with Thomas Lommée for use in the developing world.

The machine was first devised by Howard and Lommée of Intrastructures, a design studio that makes and uses components from the OpenStructures open source construction project. Read more about the OpenStructures system in our earlier story.

Unfold developed the original design by replacing its plastic bottle with a glass bottle, which has been cut in half to hold the water filter. The ceramic water filter has extruded pockets filled with activated carbon, which acts as a natural purification device, and attaches to the OpenStructures system via a 3D-printed adapter designed by Fabio Lorefice.

We recently reported on another Unfold project presented in Istanbul, which explored how 3D printed objects can be as unique as handmade ones.

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Here's some more information about the project:

The OpenStructures WaterBoiler, originally designed and composed by Jesse Howard in collaboration with Thomas Lommée, was passed on to the Antwerp based design studio Unfold.

The WaterBoiler is based on the OpenStructures design principles. In Unfold's adaptation, the water recipient, a salvaged, PET bottle, was replaced by a cut-through glass bottle that holds a ceramic water filter 3D printed using one of the machines that they developed. It further contains OS compatible parts designed by Fabio Lorefice (3D printed adaptor piece).

The water filter is a prototype, part of a recently started research project on the potential benefits of ceramic 3D printing for the production of water filters in the developing world.