#3DExpress: The 3D Printed Train Station in Japan Is Finished!

There was plenty of news this week on the additive manufacturing market! And we’ll start with the progress of a project we already reported on a few weeks ago: in Japan, the 3D printed structure used as a shelter in a train station has been finished! The teams spent six hours assembling the various 3D-printed concrete parts. Next, learn how 3D printing is helping veterinarians before taking a trip to the mountains, where the Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad has succeeded in designing a 3D-printed military bunker at an altitude of over 3,300 meters: a world first! Finally, we’ll close with two news items from the art world, and see how 3D printing is revolutionizing it.

Japan’s 3D Printed Train Station Is Finished

We announced it a few weeks ago: Japan has turned to concrete 3D printing to modernize some of its stations and offer shelters made using a 3D printer. And the project is moving ahead fast! Indeed, this week we were able to see the first images of the structure located in the city of Arida, in Hatsushima station. The 10-square-meter, 2.6-meter-high shelter was created using a solution from manufacturer Serendix. According to the project teams, it took less than a week to 3D print the various blocks of the shelter, which were then assembled on site in less than 6 hours. The façade features reliefs depicting symbols of the region, such as mandarins and fish. That means that the 3D printed train station is more or less finished, the aim now is to install a ticket machine in the structure – scheduled to open in July 2025. You can see the installation in the video below:

More Hands-On Training for Vets

It’s important for future veterinarians to get hands-on experience before entering the profession. This is why Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine recently offered its students a 3D-printed horse skeleton to facilitate hands-on practice. For this, the faculty called on Edmon Low Creative Studios. Its director, Shannon Austin, explained, “They specifically mentioned that animal skeletons are difficult to obtain and prohibitively expensive, and they inquired if I would be able to help them out by 3D printing a model.” She adds that the job wasn’t all smooth sailing, including deciding whether to print in one go or in several parts to be assembled. She says that printing took three days, and removing the supports took four hours. The parts were then assembled with hot glue. Shannon Austin concluded, “This model will allow vet students to be able to not just learn about equine morphology by simply looking at pictures in a textbook or on a screen, but instead they will now be able to physically manipulate and observe the intricacies of the animal’s skeletal structure in a literal hands-on way.”

The First 3D Printed Bunker in the Himalayas

We have reached a new milestone for engineering and defense! The Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad, in collaboration with Simpliforge Creations and the Indian Army, has succeeded in building the world’s highest 3D-printed military bunker, at an altitude of over 3,300 meters. Located in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas, the bunker represented a technological challenge due to the site’s extreme conditions. Low temperatures, low humidity and low oxygen levels required specific material design, and the team developed a concrete mix based on local aggregates. Construction took five days and printing 14 hours, demonstrating the feasibility of additive manufacturing in such demanding environments. Those involved in the program, known as the Prabal project, told the Indian media that the achievement strengthened India’s defense capabilities and paved the way for the construction of infrastructure on remote terrain.

A 3D Printed Oasis in the Coachella Valley

This year’s Coachella festival may be over, but interesting things are still happening in the valley! For example American artist and architect Ronald Rael, who is exhibiting his work Adobe Oasis in the Coachella Valley as part of the Desert X 2025 exhibition. It is an installation that unites ancestral construction techniques with digital fabrication technologies. The architect was inspired by the traditional mud construction of the San Luis Valley (Colorado), a territory that until 1848 marked the border between Mexico and the U.S. Rael uses 3D printing to reinterpret adobe with structures that evoke the texture of the trunks of local palms. The work presents itself as both art and architectural experiment, as it proposes an ecological alternative to industrial materials in construction. The structure will be on display until May 11, when the Desert X 2025 exhibition ends.

3D Printed Ceramics at London’s Natural History Museum

Let’s continue with more 3D printing news from the art world! In the Natural History Museum’s new exhibition “Fixing our Broken Planet”, particular attention was paid to the sustainable construction of the exhibition space. The integrity of the century-old museum had to be preserved while remaining flexible. That’s where WASP came in: it created ten flexible modules for the exhibition using its 3D printing technology. The WASP 40100 3D printer produced all the necessary components in three months, using a robotic arm as an extruder. We feel that the choice of additive manufacturing is particularly well suited to the theme of the exhibition – sustainable living to save our planet’s climate.

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