3form’s Wave of the Future

3form’s ICFF booth—its curving backlit wall reminiscent of Frank Gehry’s Condé Nast cafeteria—is very much an exercise in material experimentation. The sculptural form, made of a specially formulated polyester resin called Ecoresin, was fabricated at the company’s Salt Lake City production facility. A few years ago 3form installed a huge CNC milling machine (the largest in the State of Utah) in the Fabrication Department, a special part of the plant where custom work is done.

“The wall was an attempt to show the level of sophistication available using this material, when you take digital data and the complex curves required to create them, and then build using the latest technology,” says Ruben Suare, VP of 3form’s Architectural Division, a department that includes three other architects and two engineers. The Fabrication Department is in some ways 3form’s laboratory, a place where the boundaries of materials and manufacturing are stretched the meet the needs of architects and designers.