

Open and Collaborative
Fab labs empower individuals with tools, skills, and a knowledgeableย community of experts once available only to specialized professions.ย A single maker can engage in all aspects of digitally fabricating things,ย from computer-aided design to electronics design, production, andย programming, to machining, mold-making, and more. Fab labs shareย an open and collaborative philosophy and an evolving inventory of coreย capabilities that allow people and projects to be shared across globallyย networked local labs.
In early 2005, I read an article about fab labs in the first issue of Make:ย magazine. My reaction at the time was, โWow, I didnโt realize a vinyl cutterย is less than $2,000!โ We immediately ordered oneย and started doing our own in-house signage forย gallery shows at AS220, a community arts centerย in Providence, Rhode Island. Ten years later,ย AS220 Labs is a full digital fabrication lab and aย Fab Academy instruction site (see page 37) for fiveย years. The Fab Lab Network has achieved a greatย deal with a consistent vision, conscientious followthrough,ย and a methodology of embracing chaos.
โShawn Wallace, AS220 Labs Director, Getting Started withย Raspberry Pi co-author, artist, and programmer.
Fab Future
When I did the inaugural interview in Make: aboutย fab labs, I had no expectation for the explosiveย growth that was in store for both. โMakingโ hasย grown from a verb to a noun to a movement. Andย fab labs have been rapidly multiplying ever since,ย up to a network of hundreds of sites.
In retrospect, there was an inverse relationshipย between what I thought was easy and hard. Theย research roadmap to the Star Trek replicator isย progressing nicely, from computers controllingย machines to machines making machines toย coding the construction of programmableย materials. What was much more difficult wasย building the organizational capacity to match.
The technological goal of fab labs is to makeย themselves obsolete, by being able to make fabย labs (see Fab 2.0, next page). Their real legacy isย likely to be the .org/.com/.edu ecosystem thatโsย emerging to support them. The personalizationย of fabrication challenges the historical separationย of education, industry, infrastructure, aid, andย art. This is a historical moment analogous toย the appearance of the Internet that required theย invention of new organizations to create andย connect it. As important as that was, the ability toย turn data into things and things into data posesย an even larger question that fab labs are helpingย answer: How will we live, work, and play in a worldย where anyone can make (almost) anything?
โNeil Gershenfeld, Originator of the fab labs, Director ofย MITโs Center for Bits and Atoms and the Fab Academy. Authorย of Fab, When Things Start To Think, The Nature of Mathematicalย Modeling, and The Physics of Information Technology.
Fab City
In 2001, the Institute for Advanced Architecture ofย Catalonia (IAAC) and MIT began to collaborativelyย explore the impact of information technologies onย the homes and cities of the future. We wanted toย make Barcelona the first self-sufficient city in theย world, using recycled materials to produce all theย resources (things, energy, and food) we needed.
The implementation of Fab Lab Barcelonaย was our first step toward empowering a newย entrepreneurial middle class. We envisioned aย metropolis where our citizens could translateย their knowledge directly into production throughย digital fabrication.
In Barcelona, digital fabrication became the first step toward empowering citizens to translate knowledge into production. Within our lab we made the award-winning Fab Lab house for Solar Decathlon Europe. We re-imagined the world as a โHyperhabitat” where objects, buildings or cities become a re-programmable networked system of intelligent nodes.
I now work for the Barcelona City Council,ย where a new class of politicians are reinventingย the urban landscape as we scale our fab labs toย self-sustaining fab cities.
โVicente Guallart, Chief Architect, Barcelona Cityย Council. Founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture ofย Catalonia and Fab Lab Barcelona. Author of The Self-Sufficientย City and Geologics.
Fab 2.0: Machines that Make
Going to a fab lab to use digital fabrication toolsย is great, but what if you want to use a particularย machine all the time or add specific functionality thatย doesnโt exist yet? Create your own!
It turns out, the accuracy and precision of fab labย equipment is well suited to producing more digitalย fabrication tools. In fact, several companies have fabย lab roots, including Ultimaker, Other Machine Co.,ย Formlabs, and Taktia.
To make it easier to create homegrown โMachinesย That Makeโ we are developing modular hardware,ย software (โTurn Codes Into Thingsโ) andย machine control platforms. In the near future,ย prototyping a new fabrication machine could beย as simple as bolting together standard motionย components, networking them in a fab-bus controlย system, and adapting an in-browser interface.
โNadya Peek, PhD student at MITโs Center for Bits and Atoms,ย Machines That Make developer (PopFab, MTM Snap)
Fab Art
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts becameย involved with the Fab Lab Network in 2009 when Iย invited Neil Gershenfeld to speak at our conference,ย Making: Past, Present, and Future. We wanted toย examine ways that humans have used technologyย to create, from the simplest hand tools to digitalย manufacturing. Gershenfeld brought along a smallerย version of a fab lab so conference participants couldย experience working with computers to make things.ย While we don’t teach traditional crafts, our programย is grounded in the traditions of craft โ working withย our hands to manipulate materials and having a deepย understanding of the capabilities of those materials,ย including clay, metal, fiber, wood, and glass.
Gershenfeld compares bringing digital equipmentย to Haystack to Bob Dylan going electric at Newport.ย Many of those in attendance couldn’t see theย connection between our craft/material world andย the digital world. To some of us, though, it seemedย an important and vital one to make. The connectionย is this: Humans are toolmakers and these are newย tools. The wisdom in working comes with knowingย which tool to use when and what material to use inย making work. Our lab has extended ways that weย can work and reminds us of our legacy and our futureย as makers.
โStuart Kestenbaum, Poet and director of the Haystackย Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine
FAB10Barcelona
FAB10 is the 10th international conference,ย symposium and annual meeting of the Fab Labย Network, an open, creative community of fabricators, artists, scientists, engineers, educators, students,ย amateurs, and professionals of all ages.
This yearโs gathering assembled fabricatorsย from over 250 labs from more than 40 countries.ย Featured events include live onsite collaborativeย prototyping of a pavilion, an exhibition of 100ย Barcelona-based makers, a Fab Kids program, and aย 1,000 square meter โpop upโ fabrication facility.
The overarching conference theme is, โFrom Fabย Labs to Fab Cities,โ featuring Barcelonaโs unveilingย of its road map for attaining self-sufficiency throughย digital fabrication in the years to come.
โTomas Diez, Director of Fab Lab Barcelona, FAB10 Barcelonaย conference co-chair, co-founder of Smart Citizen
Fab Foundation
The Fab Foundation is an experiment in how to scale,ย support, and serve a globally distributed technicalย community. It began in 2009 to aid the rapid growth ofย the vibrant and culturally diverse fab lab network byย providing some of the necessary connective tissue.
We have since evolved to become a foundation ofย foundations, supporting regional networks of fab labsย as labs scale rapidly across continents and providingย international services in areas such as finance,ย insurance, employment, education, communications,ย funding, and lab technical deployment. Recently,ย our nonprofit was awarded $10 million by Chevronย Corporation to build and support labs across the USA.
The Fab Foundation is also seeking a Federalย charter through the United States National Fab Labย Network Act, currently before Congress.
โSherry Lassiter, Director of the Fab Foundation, Programย Manager Center for Bits and Atoms
Fab Academy
Roughly equivalent to MITโs rapid prototypingย course, MAS 863: How to Make (Almost) Anything,ย the Fab Academy provides advanced technicalย instruction through a unique, distributed, hands-onย digital fabrication curriculum.
Professor Gershenfeld lectures globallyย through an interactive, two-way platformย while experts mentor local student groups.ย Diploma completion is evaluated by a studentโsย documented portfolio of skill-based projectsย rather than in time or credits.
If a 19-week prototyping marathon that testsย your mettle as you and your classmates pullย together to attempt every digital fabrication andย electronics prototyping process possible in a fabย lab sounds like fun (it is!) โย rise to the challenge and join us next spring atย a fab lab near you through fabacademy.org.
On a personal note, Shawn Wallace was my Fab Academy instructor during the pilot year of the program. Without Neil’s interview in Make: vol 1, it’s highly unlikely you’d be reading this copy now.
โAnna Kaziunas France, Fab Academy Dean of Students andย Digital Fabrication Editor at Maker Media.
Being Fab-ulous
Setting up a fab lab involves accessing the right tools for the curriculum. The current recommendedย Inventory costs ~$50,000 in equipment and ~$10,000 in materials and includes:
- A laser cutter for press-fit assembly
- A 4′ x 8′ CNC router for making large, structural objects like furniture and molds for composites
- A sign cutter, to produce flexible copper circuits, antennas and printing masks
- A precision (micron resolution) milling machine to make 3D molds and surface-mount circuit boards
- Programming tools for low-cost, high-speed embedded processors
- A 3D scanner and printer
- Custom software to run any fab lab machine (see Turn Code Into Things)
Learn more about the fab labs.
Fab Timeline
Key moments in fab labย evolution.
- 1998 1st MAS: 863ย How to Make (Almost)ย Anything MIT Class
- 2001ย The CBA founded; National Science Foundationย grant founds earlyย fab lab educational outreach;ย IAAC inaugurated
- 2002 Experimental labs:ย Bostonโs Museum of Science,ย Vigyan Ashramย in India
- 2003 1st fab lab launchedย in Boston, followed byย Costa Rica, Norway andย Ghana, most future fabย labs are self-funded
- 2005 Fab lab user groupย meeting โFab1,โ Symposiumย on Digital Fabricationย in Norway, โFab2โ
- 2006 Fab3: South Africa
- 2007 Fab Lab Barcelonaย founded, Fab4: Chicago
- 2008 Hyperhabitat: Reprogrammingย the Worldย in Venice, AS220 Labsย chartered
- 2009 Machine begin Makingย Machines/fab labs 2.0ย begins, Fab Foundationย incorporated
- 2009 Fab Academy programย begins, Fab5: India
- 2010 Fab6: Netherlands,ย Fab Lab House built
- 2011 Fab7: Peru, MTMย Snap, Haystack Lab realized
- 2012 Fab8: New Zealand,ย Fab Lab Kamakuraย organized
- 2013 S.1705: Nationalย Fab Lab Network Actย introduced
- 2013 Fab9: Japan,ย PopFab
- 2014 Fab10 Barcelona
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