Just noticed this tweet.

$90 in espresso machine parts from Italy or $0.75 in ABS from my MakerBot. Not a hard call to make. i.imgur.com/cVi8k.jpg

— Chris Krueger (@TheNewHobbyist) May 17, 2012

Easy call, indeed.

UPDATE: okay, the video doesn’t work as an embed, my bad. Watch it here!

Speaking of architecture, here’s a video for:

• Architects
• Thing-O-Matic owners
• Anyone who ever played Nintendo and craves the music
• Anyone who loves — and I mean loves — LEDs
• People who just can’t get enough time lapse video

This video comes to us from Andreas Kretzer und Dennis Röver, whose Thing-O-Matic is on display at the German Architectural Museum (Deutsches Architektur Museum) until the middle of September, 2012. The team has students giving live demonstrations of making things on the Thing-O-Matic, but they also made hundreds of souvenirs available for visitors.

Look what MakerBot Operator Craig Berscheidt and others at Kansas City’s Hammerspace made: a water fountain that switches between regular cold water and Idiocracy-inspired Brawndo, The Thirst Mutilator!

Since Brawndo isn’t a real drink, “MIO energy drops were selected to provide Brawndo-esque flavor, but the flavor tank can hold whatever we choose.”

Apparently the first test subject chose to drink the flavored water over the regular water. Hmm, I wonder why…

That’s some really nice laser cutting/etching and vinyl work. Read about the whole project here.

Tim Moore at ArchitectureSource poses the question, “Is 3D Printing Taking the Artistry out of Architecture?”

That’s a big question, and he’s applying it to just one part of the process, model making. Tim argues that 3D printing is just like a new technology in any other field. It helps the artists do their great work more quickly, and it helps the non-artists do their not-great work more quickly.

I’m not an architect, but isn’t it also possible that having a technology that speeds up your work can also help you improve faster? The whole post kind of suggests that the model making is the entire goal in architecture, but I always imagined it as a means to an end, a way to share your ideas with others. In my opinion, the quicker someone can tell you “that sucks, try again,” the better.

PrettySmallThings discussed how she uses her MakerBot to make models in her work as a theater set designer at our most recent MUG New York meeting (and has written a fantastic series right here on this blog). She told us that she basically uses her Replicator to make the things she doesn’t have the time to make or won’t enjoy making. However, if one element of a model is easier and faster to do by hand, she makes it by hand.

Also, model making is not the only way that 3D printing is being used in architecture. There’s also the question of building actual structures with 3D printing.

Thomas sent in pics from Endeavour College in Adelaide, South Australia. For US readers, this “college” is a secondary school. Check out where these high school students huddle up to make things on their three MakerBots.

Where Endeavour College students bring the awesome

Look at that banner, and those modded Thing-O-Matics! This is customized MakerBotting to the max. Good on ya, guys!