Printable Garden

Printable Garden is an ongoing project by Yuichiro Takeuchi, whose goal is to develop a novel 3D printing technology capable of fabricating freeform hydroponic gardens, lush with herbs and flowers (and perhaps even trees). The technology is scalable, and theoretically capable of printing out not only tiny gardens to be placed on tabletops/shelves, but also large-scale rooftop farms and vertical gardens.

A custom modeling software allows users to easily design gardens with various 3D shapes and plant layouts. The printed gardens retain all of the benefits of standard hydroponic gardens, such as ease of maintenance, low water usage, and high rates of successful plant growth.

Currently the printer operates at the small, desktop scale; Takeuchi is now working towards building a larger, faster printer that can operate at the furniture scale (2015). In time, he expects the technology to contribute to realizing “greener” cities with lower carbon footprints and increased biodiversity.