Olympia Entertainment uses 3D printing technology as a sales tool to create 3D models of the new Little Caesars Arena, its money-generating suites and the surrounding area it's developing, Architectural Digest reports.
The process combines computer-aided design and a 3D printer to create three-dimensional objects. The printer creates layers of materials to build the 3D model.
Hadley Keller, a digital design reporter for the magazine in New York, writes:
For its first time working with 3D modeling, Olympia had turned to Zoyes Creative Group, who used the state-of-the-art Stratasys Fortus 450mc 3D Printer to create a breathtakingly intricate model of the arena and the surrounding downtown district, all being developed by Olympia. Founder Dean Zoyes has been using 3D-printing technology since 2011, after years cutting his teeth hand-modeling buildings for architects and designers...
The model in question was no standard project: Zoyes calls it "if not the biggest or the best we’ve ever done, the closest to it." Stratasys project lead Jim Vurpillat explains, "Olympia wanted to, in a sense, bring this project to light because it was broader than just a new arena; there was a much bigger scope. They very quickly realized the only way to really bring this to life in the time they had was to use 3D-printing."
3D printerThe model features a nearly unparalleled standard of detail for 3D models. Each building, street, and signpost is rendered in exact scale, allowing both developers and potential purchasers to get a virtual sense of the space, which was, at sale time, little more than a giant construction lot. "Potential developers could see on a real scale what things are going to look like and how they’re going to work," Wilson says. "It makes everything so much easier. They could see, 'Oh, there will be a mass of people outside my building coming from the arena every night—that makes for good business.'"
