X-CORAL

X-Coral , using the approach of nature-centered design, which put the reef and other natural entities in the center, it was used design-research tools such as observations, prototyping, user validation, and other design methods to achieve remedial interventions in nature. For manufacturing process it was ussed a four-meter (13-foot) high 3D printer that uses clay to create ceramics from terracota. Most of the artificial reefs are about 3m high by 1m across. They are constructed to attract different types of fish species with different colors of coral, made from 100 percent terra-cotta material.

It is attractive to planula, the free-swimming, flattened, ciliated, and bilaterally symmetric larval forms of various coral species, which is helping to accelerate the growth of a natural coral reef. The coral is anchored to the ocean floor in the Gulf of Aqaba, south of Eilat in southern Israel in shallow waters about 12 m deep. From there, the shore drops off to a depth of about 1,000 m. The circulation of the deeper, colder waters keeps the temperatures between 22ºC to 24ºC. Nearly 50 species of fish are now hiding, laying eggs in the 3D-printed bioplastics and ceramic reef in the Red Sea.

Local: Israel
Year: 2019
AM Technology: Extrusion
Material: Terracotta

Link of the original project