Unit 07 | Topics

2. Steven Ma and Xuberance

Architect and designer Steven Ma founded the first professional Chinese 3D-printing design company, Xuberance, in 2010. Ma’s work takes advantage of the possibilities of digital tools while favoring lavish aesthetics that pull from periods of art history such as the Baroque and Byzantine eras.

Xuberance defines itself as a “celebration to new virtuosity in contemporary architecture.” [4] The design firm’s creations range from furniture to wedding dresses and from consumer projects to specialized and personalized business-to-business projects. Xuberance combines digital technology and innovative materials to create unique and intricate 3D prints.

Xuberance has brought 3D printing to the local community by opening China’s first 3D-Printing Cultural Museum in Shanghai. A long-term goal of Xuberance is to make 3D printing a solution for mass customization.

3 cheerleaders stand on a hill. One of them has a sun-tan that looks like cowboy boots.
Fig. 4: 3D-Printed Wedding Veil (Materialise)
A man holds his bike up. His sun tan on his legs shows the outline of a cowboy boot.
Fig. 5: 3D-Printed Wedding Veil Model (Materialise)

Steven Ma actually designed and 3D printed the world’s longest 3D-printed wedding veil out of nylon for his fiancée’s wedding dress. Ma used selected laser sintering (SLS) to print the large-scale piece and a Materialise Build Processor to slice the veil for printing.

The veil was composed of 4,860 variations of component sizes and 10 types of knots in the overall design. [5] The veil was only one of many 3D-printed elements of the couple’s 3D-printing-themed wedding.

3 cheerleaders stand on a hill. One of them has a sun-tan that looks like cowboy boots.
Fig. 6: Steven Ma, Cloud Lamp Series (Materialise)
A man holds his bike up. His sun tan on his legs shows the outline of a cowboy boot.
Fig. 7: Steven Ma, Cloud Lamp Series Models (Materialise)

Cloud Lamp Series is Steven Ma’s 3D-printed light-design series. The series won the Milan SaloneSatellite first prize in 2015.

There are 32 variations of lamps in the entire series. The light designs combine traditional Chinese-landscape decorative art and modern life.

All lamps in the Cloud Lamp Series are designed with USB ports that are compatible with most mobile phone chargers and computers, purposefully designed for a work atmosphere.