Barbie’s 3D Printed Makeover

July 8, 2013

At first glance, the iconic Barbie Doll looks innocent enough in the hands of a young child, but a side-by-side with Nickolay Lamm’s anatomically accurate doll reveals the ludicrously distorted proportions of Mattel’s classic stand-by – if she existed in real life. Lamm generated a 3D model from the average measurements of a 19-year-old girl, sent it to a 3D printer, and photoshopped the resulting figure into the Barbie’s likeness.

Lamm’s work examines how standards of beauty are approaching increasingly impossible limits. Nothing articulates this more than the Barbie Doll, which represents to many children the pinnacle of elegance and womanhood. Ever since the doll’s introduction in 1959, there’s been much ado about how it affects body perceptions. Some suggest that Barbie’s measurements are so far from Vitruvian that if she were to walk among us, the top-heavy lady would topple with ease (as any kid who has tried to stand the doll already knows.) This begs the question, are we so accustomed to seeing impossible body types that reintroducing a natural figure is exotic, and even newsworthy?

We here at Shapeways think Lamm’s doll looks great herself. We look forward to seeing how 3D printing can empower artists like Lamm to change the way we see.