Now You Can Grow And 3D-Print Your Own Digital Plants

Quaddel formations are one of those things that you know is built on a foundation of some kind of super-crazy math you’ll never understand. But like the science behind pyrite cubes, the aurora borealis, and murmurations--you don’t really have to “get it” to appreciate it because it’s just so darn beautiful.

Coming from German duo Deskriptiv (whom we spoke to a few months back), Quaddel takes the input of a simple shape and builds it out organically into really outrageous organic forms. The network of tiny fractal branches grows the way corals, and even lung tissues, develop--stretching out into a completely mesmerizing bloom.

A pair of real, plasticized human lungs showing the “bronchial tree.” Image via jnatiuk

The creators can allow the structures to grow freely:

Or they can set parameters for it to grow around. Here’s the algorithm growing this coral-like stuff within and around the surface of a virtual glass shape:

The resulting structures can then be 3D printed into some really mind-blowing sculptures. For example, here is the process of a rendering with the constraint of a vector field, from video to physical object:

3D printed object from growth process controlled by a vector field

Quaddel may even have a future in fashion- the project page includes examples of shapes ‘trained’ to grow around a human form.

We’re excited to see what these guys will think of next! Please let us know if you can think of any awesome applications for this software in the comments.

All images and videos are courtesy the artists and can be found on the Quaddel project page, except where otherwise noted.