3D printed furniture designers to know in 2026

For years, sand 3D printing belonged to foundries, which use it to print moulds and cores for metal casting. Architects then showed what it could do at full scale. In 2013, Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger printed Digital Grotesque I, a 3.2 m high room in sand with hundreds of millions of facets. In 2018, ETH Zurich used printed sand as the mould for the Smart Slab, 80 m² of lightweight concrete.

Furniture and objects are the newer chapter: printing the piece itself, not the mould. At Blacksand, a collective of independent designers works in one material, black quartz sand, matt and mineral, priced by weight at one rate for every designer. Each keeps the credit for every piece. Here they are, grouped by what they make.

Tables and furniture

Alberto Essesi

Essesi Design Studio, La Jolla, United States. His work spans robots, vehicles, architecture and collectible furniture, including roles as lead designer at Tesla and head of design at Mytra. ATLAS holds an open book in a V-shaped cradle under a glass top: ATLAS Table, ATLAS Coffee Table.

Erica Sellers

Studio S II, New York, United States. A designer and artist who has designed exhibitions for two Venice Biennales. NECTAR turns the mathematics of how bees build into code: Nectar Coffee Table, Nectar Side Table.

Camila Simona

Interior Visuals, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sculptural furniture for homes and hospitality. NODO tables are intertwined curves that open up to let light through: NODO Console Table, NODO Side Table.

Søren H. Søndergaard and Victor H. Xavier

Assimply Studio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An experimental studio founded by a couple, Søren, who is Danish, and Victor, who is Brazilian, blending Scandinavian minimalism and Brazilian bossa. ECLIPSE is built from stacked, overlapping discs: ECLIPSE Coffee Table, ECLIPSE Side Table V1.

Lighting

Luis Gimeno

Luis Gimeno Design, Barcelona, Spain. Playful, functional pieces with organic forms. Halo is a fountain where light takes the place of water: Halo Aura, Halo Pendant 01.

Gabriela Saadia

Saadia Design, Mexico City, Mexico. An industrial designer focused on sculptural lighting, with a Red Dot Design Award among her recognitions. Vano is built around a void in a solid form: Vano Table Lamp, Nodo Table Lamp.

Rik F. Jansen

Rik Fransjansen Studio, Amsterdam, Netherlands. A studio founded in 2024 across architecture, scenography and product design. PLUME borrows conformal ribbing from lightweight spacecraft parts: PLUME Pendant, PLUME Sconce.

Cole Slater

Cole Slater Studio, New York, United States. Collectible design, lighting and 3D sculpting. Composition turns real paint brushstrokes, made with painter August Maltzan, into sand: Composition Table Lamp, Composition Sconce.

Vases and tabletop objects

Deniz Aktay

dezin, Stuttgart, Germany. A furniture designer with a background in architecture and urban planning. The Echo vases bridge two vessels with one U-shaped vault: Echo 01, Echo 02.

Gabriele D'Amico

Gabriele D'Amico Studio, Palermo, Italy. A multidisciplinary designer drawn to experimental production. His G0123 vases look different from every angle: G01, G03.

Ceren Arslan

EXIT Ceren, New York, United States. An architect and spatial designer. Synthesis lets a pixel grid soften into round forms: VaseBag, Synthesis Bowl.

Tomas Kral

Tomas Kral Studio, Lausanne, Switzerland. A Swiss-Slovak designer who teaches industrial design at ECAL and EPFL. DUNE builds trays and a candle holder on one curled profile: Dune Rocking Tray, Dune Candle Holder.

Candle holders, clocks and sculpture

Adrián M. Almonacid

Cuatro Cuatros, Valencia, Spain. A practice founded in 2010, moving between production and collectible design. BOLA sets sand spheres on a thin plane and, flipped over, takes tea lights: BOLA SQ, BOLA REC.

Vincent Decat

Puteaux, France. A French designer and Design Academy Eindhoven graduate who sees his pieces as companions. Those Who Keep the Flame are rocky candle holders that look hand-formed: TWKTF 2, TWKTF 4.

Manex B. Mugica

Manex Bilbao Studio, Valencia and Bilbao, Spain. A Basque designer who spent time in Milan before founding his studio in Valencia in 2022. Three clock families, Citrus, Conus and Janzol: Citrus Wall, Janzol Table.

Driaan Claassen

Reticence Studio, Cape Town, South Africa. An artist and sculptor who also works in wood, bronze, ceramic and copper. Surface Cuts carves solid mass open with cavities: Square Cut, Organic Cut.

Candle holders take a metal or glass cup for every candle, with 10 cm between burning candles, and vases are for dried flowers only. See Product safety.

Work with one of them

Every designer here can be commissioned through Bespoke: bring an idea, choose up to three designers or let us match you, and we take care of production. See all the designers, or read how sand compares with plastic 3D printing.

Questions

Who designs 3D printed furniture in sand?

At Blacksand, a collective of independent designers from Europe, the Americas and South Africa, each with their own studio, all working in black quartz sand.

Can I commission one of these designers?

Yes. Through Bespoke you choose up to three designers, or we match you. The piece is priced by weight, plus a design fee quoted per project.

Are the pieces made to order?

Yes. Every piece is made to order, and most are ready in 4-6 weeks.

Sources: Digital Grotesque I, Michael Hansmeyer · ETH Zurich Smart Slab, ArchDaily