Taught by Leah Wulfman, this course is designed around learning the basics of mold making and experimenting with mold making materials before honing in on a metal (bronze or aluminum) building detail that will be cast in the foundry at Arcosanti. Running for five weeks, March 19 – April 16, the course covers the conceptual and material basics of mold making and casting, along with foundry processes. Students will begin by learning life casting techniques using alginate and plaster, and then get into the basics of positive and negative, particularly One and Two Part Molds. There will be a focus on 3d mold making techniques which bridge our physical surroundings with digital modeling. Students will learn to take their 3D models out of Rhino and other 3d softwares through 3d printing, and how to 3d scan objects and details as readymades that can be iterated on and cast digitally. Then, students learn the principles of “draft” and “lost-wax” while making sand molds that molten bronze and aluminum will be cast into. Finally, each student will make a mold of a detail or object of their choice to be cast in either bronze or aluminum using the greensand mold process.

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