Fabrication method for fabricating an object as a plurality of successive laminae

A fabrication method in which an object is formed as a plurality of successive laminae, the method comprising the repeated steps of:

• (i) applying a sol precursor onto a recipient surface;
• (ii) providing a temperature gradient along an application path of the precursor, so that the precursor is heated as it approaches the recipient surface and a sol-gel transition is initiated so that a gel layer is deposited on the surface;
• and
• (iii) locally heating regions of the gel layer by directing a light beam onto those regions of the deposited precursor, so that the locally heated regions transform to a solid material.