A QR code you can live in
Scan it from above. Live in it from the side.
Urban QR turns your Wi-Fi password, a link or a contact card into a tiny city for your 3D printer. From above, the dark buildings on the white plate are a QR code your phone can scan. From the side, it's a skyline.
Free · No account · Runs on your device
In five blocks
Everything that matters, stacked
How it works
From code to city in five steps
- 01
Tell it what to scan
A Wi-Fi network, a website, a contact card, text, an email address, a phone number or a map pin.
- 02
Generate your city
Choose the size and press build. Districts, towers, roofs and streets grow from your code, right on your device.
- 03
Preview and tune
Turn it around, view it layer by layer and adjust what you like: districts, roofs, connections, streets. The same code and seed always give the same city.
- 04
Download and 3D print
Two files, checked the way a slicer reads them. Print them in two colours: in one go with two nozzles, or with one filament swap where the buildings begin.
- 05
Showcase and scan
On a shelf, a desk or a wall: a little city to look at, and a code that works. Hold a phone above it and it scans.
The city
Every dark square becomes a building
The QR code is the street plan. Where it's dark, something stands; where it's white, there's a street, a square or a park. The rest is up to the city.
- Districts
Houses at the edges, mid-rise around them, towers downtown, a landmark or two, and the odd building that doesn't fit in.
- Roofs and facades
Gables, pyramids, setbacks and spires. Windows, balconies, shop fronts and arched doors.
- Connections
Arch bridges, arcades, gates, walkways and stacked air bridges between neighbours.
- Streets and squares
Sunken streets, zebra crossings, paved plazas and fountains, cut into the white plate.
Why this exists
Printing the unexpected
I love 3D printing, and most of all printing something nobody expects into the real world. A QR code hidden in a city was too good not to try.
Urban QR isn't about money. It's about exploring what you can make in the real world with the tools we have today, and sharing that with everyone who owns a printer.
Print it
Any FFF printer, any build plate
Urban QR prints on every FFF 3D printer and is tuned for a 0.4 mm nozzle. You set the plate size, so the city always fits your build plate.
The plate and the buildings come as two files, so each gets its own colour. A dark city on a light plate is what your phone reads.
- Two nozzles
Load both files, give each its own colour, and print everything at once.
- One nozzle
Print it as one job with a pause where the buildings begin: the printer stops, you swap the filament, and the buildings print on top in the second colour. No glue, no extra work.
- Fallback
Print the plate and the buildings separately, then glue the buildings in place.
- Printer
- any FFF 3D printer
- Nozzle
- tuned for 0.4 mm
- Plate
- 50 to 400 mm, you choose
- Tallest tower
- 10 to 200 mm (60 by default)
- Files
- base.stl · buildings.stl
- Colours
- two: a light plate, a dark city
- Verified on
- Bambu Lab · Prusa · Ultimaker
Under the hood
For the curious
It still scans
Before you download, the generator reads its own city back as a scanner would, module by module. If it wouldn't scan, it tells you.
Files a slicer likes
Every group of buildings is one closed solid. Where two only touch at a corner, both get a 0.1 mm chamfer, so no slicer ever sees them as one broken shape.
Built on your device
The whole generator runs in your browser: Python in WebAssembly and the manifold geometry library. About 10 MB once; after that, nothing leaves your device.
Keeping it free
Free, and staying that way
No account, no watermark, no limits. If your city made you smile, you can buy me a coffee: it covers the website and the test prints. One or two euros is plenty.
Printed one? Leave me a message there, with a photo if you like: I'd love to see it.
Selling prints? You can. Always credit Urban QR and share the site: inspiring others to make their own is the whole point.
Questions
Good to know
Does it really scan?
Yes. The generator checks every city as a scanner would before you download it. Print the buildings dark and the plate light, and scan from straight above.
Is my Wi-Fi password stored anywhere?
No. Your city is built on your own device: what you type is never sent to a server, and the page doesn't keep it. It only remembers your settings (size, seed, filament colour) for your next visit.
Which printer do I need?
Any FFF 3D printer. It has been verified on Bambu Lab, Prusa and Ultimaker printers. You set the plate size to fit your build plate, and the city is tuned for a 0.4 mm nozzle.
Why two files?
So the plate and the buildings each get their own colour: the contrast is what makes it scan. With two nozzles you print both at once; with one, you pause and swap the filament where the buildings begin. Gluing them together is the fallback.
Can I sell what I print?
Yes, as long as you always credit Urban QR where you sell it. Share the site too, so others can make their own city.