3DEA - 3D Printing Pop-Up Store - New York

Openhouse to Launch 3DEA Holiday 3D Printing Pop Up Store

With shopping’s relentless migration online, retail storefronts are increasingly becoming necessity-only Duane Reades or high-end fashion boutiques. There will always be bars and restaurants, thank goodness! But what about the fabric of cities as more and more shops go to the Web? We see 3D printing as a new fundamental for not just for personal manufacturing, but retail too. Imagine a corner store where you can print chairs, doorknobs, espresso cups, toys and more. Replacement parts for cars, new headphones, custom halloween masks, shoes and accessories. Where you can buy and test out printers and software, too.

Thursday Nov. 29 2012, we launch 3DEA, the monthlong holiday 3D printing pop up where we aim to deliver the precursor of the future store. In partnership with Shapeways, Ultimaker and UP! and sponsored by the Eventi Hotel, 3DEA is free and open to the public through December 27. 3DEA features an Inventor Bar, Customization Center, DIY Hub, Body Scanning, classes, lectures, and a whole section for children. At 3DEA, you can customize, invent and replicate products with the help of expert consultants. You’ll be able to browse home printers from Ultimaker and UP!, order holiday gifts through Shapeways.com and learn the ropes of the manufacturing revolution. 3D printing is nothing short of teleportaton: If you can think it, you can make it here.

3DEA is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-7pm and Sunday from 11am-6pm at the Eventi Hotel on the corner of 29th St. and 6th Ave.

MAKE has partnered with 3DEA, a pop up 3D printing emporium in New York City’s fashion district. The store will sell printers and 3D printed objects as well as offer a lineup of classes, workshops, and presentations from the likes of jewelry maker Kevin Wei, 3D printing artist Josh Harker, and Shapeways’ Duann Scott. MAKE readers will get a discount on classes by entering the MAKEMAG promo code. If you don’t have a copy of our Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing be sure pick one up at 3DEA. Also look for a 3D printed Christmas tree ornament contest, body scanning, and a holiday design shop.

If canned goods and homemade sweaters don’t seem to suit the bill for your relatives anymore, and you happen to be in the NYC area in the next few weeks, consider stopping by this mega-cluster of 3D printed goodness. Created by Openhouse and Launched in collaboration with Shapeways, UP!, and Ultimaker, the shop features many outlets for customers to design and print gifts directly on-site. From jewelry and toys to chairs and even sex toys, the world of custom gift-giving just got a whole lot more personal—and accessible.

Just when you thought 3D printing couldn’t take over the mainstream anymore, NYC’s Fashion District now has a prime piece of real estate that features rows of 3D printers, a 3D photo booth, body scanning, Doodle 3D, a Christmas Tree Ornament competition, workshops, and more. Perhaps the most exciting part of the event are the workshops hosted by some of the most knowledgeable folks in the 3D Print industry including Arthur Young-Spivey, Anthony Tammaro and Duann Scott. For some folks, Santa came early this year.

"Openhouse presents 3DEA, the holiday pop up store that brings 3D printing to life in the heart of New York City. If you can think it, you can make it here. 3DEA features cutting-edge brands like Shapeways, Ultimaker, and UP! plus 3D classes, a DIY hub equipped with easy-to-use software, Doodle Stations for kids, a Body Scanning Station and curated 3DEA Shop. Create customized holiday gifts with the help of our consultants or browse online. Welcome to the future.

Imagine a world where you could dream up a new toy, piece of jewelry, or pretty much anything else you wanted and then walk to the corner store and have it printed right before your very eyes.

A new pop-up 3D printing emporium in New York City's fashion district called 3DEA is giving visitors a glimpse into that future. After walking into the colorful 3DEA store, located at the Eventi Hotel on the corner of 29th St. and 6th Ave., the first thing you'll probably say is "wow." Few people have, after all, seen a working 3D printer up close and personal.

In the front window sit a dozen aqua-colored Ultimaker-brand 3D printers. Look closely and you'll see the devices are actually, layer by layer, working to construct various items.

When I visited the store this week, one of the Ultimaker machines was plugging away at a hot pink model of a human brain, while another was working on what looked like an orange troll doll. For a full tour of the store, check out the slideshow below.

The store feels somewhat like an interactive exhibit, though you can purchase a selection of 3D-printed items, and order the actual 3D printers, which start at $850 for the compact Up! Mini. There's also a "3D Genius Bar," where you can sit down with someone knowledgeable about 3D printing and tell them your idea.