33ft tall Buddhist cave temple which dates to the fifth century recreated entirely by 3D PRINTING

Daily Mail ^ | 22 December 2017 | Tracy You

[mairdie]

It's one of the greatest artworks in the world, and now Chinese archaeologists and artists are using 3D printing to make a perfect copy of the Yungang Buddhist Grottoes.

'West Empress Chamber', the number 3 and the largest cave of Yungang Grottoes in northern China, have been meticulously re-created using specially developed 3D printers and state-of-the-art scanning technology. ...

The original 'West Empress Chamber' was carved between the 5th and 6th century during the Northern Wei Dynasty - when the religion first flourished in China.

The full-size replica is enormous, measuring 17.9 metres (59 feet) in length, 13.6 metres (45 feet) in width and 10 metres (33 feet) in height.

The exquisite cave consists of three Buddhist statues. The one in the middle, the largest of the three, is 10 meters tall while the two standing at either side is six meters (20 feet) tall.

Experts from the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute and Zhejiang University spent two years meticulously reproducing the grotto.

[mairdie]

Original

Copy

[CaptainMorgantown]

Very cool.

I wonder if there are detailed enough photos, if that could be done with some of the landmarks and treasurers destroyed by Islamic Radicals.

I’m thinking in particular about the giant stone Buddhas in Afghanistan that were destroyed by the Taliban.

[mairdie]

The trick here was that they captured the images digitally while the cave existed. Doubt there’s much hope for the destroyed sites. But knowing the past, it’s time to digitally capture all the remaining sites and then DISTRIBUTE the copies everywhere so that they can’t again be destroyed.

Oh, but the possibilities for museums everywhere. It’s just stunning.

[moovova]

That’s just incredible. I’d love to see both the original and the copy.

[Sequoyah101]

Does anyone know what material they used for the 3D printing media?

[ASOC]

Seems the position of the statue’s hands hold some meaning for the acolytes of this version of Buddha.

Other regions see things differently
https://www.lotussculpture.com/mudras.html

[AustinBill]

That should be possible as technology continues to advance. See, for example, this article.

[dfwgator]

We may need it to recreate all those Confederate Statues they’re taking down.

[mairdie]

It breaks my heart what they’re doing with those statues. I can only hope that people of confederate descendancy can get their hands on them and put them on private land.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks mairdie.