Decibel and Caracol 3D-Printed 30 Custom Benches for Coachella in Two Weeks

30 Benches, Two Weeks, Two States

Coachella's SKYLRK Oasis installation needed 30 large-format benches. The geometry was organic, the deadline was tight, and conventional molding would have taken months. Decibel and Caracol decided to print them instead.

The two companies split the job geographically. Decibel's New Jersey facility handled half the benches. Caracol's Texas site printed the rest. The design traveled digitally between locations, and both teams worked in parallel to hit the festival's two-week window.

Why Robotic Printing Made This Possible

These are not simple rectangular seats. Each bench runs nearly seven feet long. When grouped, they form circular arrays roughly 13 feet across, wrapping around palm trees inside a 360-degree screen enclosure. The shapes are multiplanar and flowing, exactly the kind of geometry that would kill a traditional mold budget.

Robotic large-format additive manufacturing let Decibel and Caracol create those curves without tooling. The benches are hollow, lightweight, and structural. They are printed in recycled PETG glass fiber from Airtech, a material reclaimed from industrial waste.

Designed for a Second Life

Most festival furniture ends up in a landfill after the event. These benches were engineered for long-term outdoor use. The PETG GF is UV-stable and weather-resistant. When the installation finally comes down, the pieces can be shredded and reprinted into new forms. That circular model is becoming a real selling point for large-format polymer AM.

The project builds on Decibel's earlier PORTAL installation at Milan Design Week 2025, where the company printed chairs live in an abandoned factory. SKYLRK Oasis is the same idea under commercial pressure: a tight deadline, custom geometry, and high public visibility.