With FABRICATION LABORATORY, curated by Ramon Prat, the DHUB presents an analysis of the new 3D digital fabrication technologies, a phenomenon in constant evolution that is leading to radical changes in design and production processes.

FABRICATION LABORATORY is a dynamic event to which various layers of information and experience will be added until it closes. In this way, it will gradually accumulate ongoing analysis of the new production context.

The objects developed using new technological tools—advanced design software and CNC digital fabrication machines—and the ability to customise design and mass production (mass customisation) are calling into question the future of the traditional model/series approach of industrial design.

Digital fabrication technologies offer new opportunities for design professionals in the 21st century and are ushering in a more flexible project methodology capable of adapting to meet different and changing needs.

The impact of this new technological paradigm is being felt in every phase of the production process, from conceptualisation to materialisation, from distribution to consumption. Moreover, it is paving the way to the promise of participation and personalisation.

Structure of the content
Four major areas determine the organisation of the spaces and the content:

Permanent exhibition
FULL PRINTE3D
Printing objects
16.06.10 – 29.05.11

The exhibition FULL PRINTE3D introduces additive manufacturing systems and presents a series of projects that analyse the conceptual implications for design of this kind of production.

Research projects in various fields, such as medicine, gourmet cuisine and construction, demonstrate the versatility of 3D printing and point to a possible paradigm shift in the making of the world around us.

Exhibition curated by Marta Malé–Alemany. Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).
With the support of: Francisca Aroso, Areti Markopoulou, Massimo Menichinelli, Lorena Trigo. Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).


Digital fabrication workshop
DHUB FAB
16.06.10 – 29.05.11

The DHUB FAB is a digital fabrication laboratory equipped with machinery that provides an opportunity to experiment with prototype and object manufacturing in situ in workshops aimed at professionals in the field and the lay public alike. The workshops will focus on specific issues such as CNC cutting and milling, 3D scanning and printing, and making electronic circuits and customised machines for producing all kinds of objects and inventions.

The DHUB FAB is vivid evidence of the spread and democratisation of digital fabrication tools, brought about by the appearance of networks of workshops and laboratories, as well as the availability of fabrication files shared on the Internet.

In order to demonstrate how this type of fabrication will result in production being relocated and decentralised, the DHUB FAB will create CCloud (Collaborative Cloud), a collective piece that will gradually take shape during the course of the activity and which will remain on display so that visitors can witness the evolution in its form.

Using software that can be downloaded from the website DHUB FAB or one of the computers located in the exhibition space, it will be possible for anyone to design a piece, which will be sent to the DHUB FAB to be fabricated and included in CCloud.

Co-ordinated by: Tomás Díez. Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).
Monitors: Guillem Camprodon, Luciano Betoldi. Fab Academy, 2010-2011.


Classroom
New fields in additive fabrication
16.06.10 – 29.05.11

The projects in this space illustrate the research being carried out in various disciplines to adapt and implement the principles of additive manufacturing in new environments, which is in turn generating new concepts in materials production.

In this space, set up in the manner of a teaching centre, debates and lectures will be held, offering the opportunity to analyse, share and raise awareness of issues such as mass customisation, interactive design, open-source fabrication machines, XL rapid manufacturing, new materials, etc.

In keeping with this educational intent, the 3rd Workshop on additive manufacturing: Unleashing AM through software solutions will be held as part of the FABRICATION LABORATORY. This workshop, organised by the IQS of the Ramon Llull University (URL) in collaboration with the Leitat Technology Centre, will take place on Monday 21 June at the Disseny Hub Barcelona. A networking event led by experts from a range of sectors—car, aeronautical, dental and aerospace industries, biomedicine, design, industrial electronic devices, construction, etc.—the workshop will provide an occasion to learn more about additive fabrication, to discuss the opportunities it offers and to conduct business.
Additive fabrication opens up a wide range of possibilities for increasing efficiency and will have a major impact when it takes its place, as it is certain to do shortly, in the chain of industrial production on a large scale.
AM Forum


Linked experiences
This space features innovative projects on emerging processes and practices and their application in the field of digital fabrication.
It also presents previous experiences that illustrate design and manufacturing strategies and which will allow us to draw parallels with the situation today, a time of sweeping changes in design disciplines.

(FAB)BOTS Exhibition
Customised machines and robots for design and fabrication
16.06.10 – 28.11.10
(FAB)BOTS presents a collection of ten projects that explore the continuity between digital design and fabrication through the invention and development of customised fabrication machines, materials research and the use of parametric design. The selection of projects invites us to reflect on new ways of building customised habitats in remote locations or communities that have limited infrastructure and access to new technologies. The works on display foster debate on the ecological and environmental implications of these alternative construction processes.
The projects exhibited are by students at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and were developed in two design studios tutored by Marta Malé-Alemany in collaboration with Jeroen van Ameijde (London) and Victor Viña (Barcelona).

Platform21 = Repairing Workshop
Stop recycling, start repairing!

This is to notify you that, for reasons beyond DHUB’s control, the workshop Platform21 = Repairing, scheduled for 17–19 September, has been postponed.
We shall shortly be publishing the new dates of this workshop, developed by the Platform21 = Repairing community. Using different techniques, these workshops, based on the concept of “repairing” as a creative, cultural and economic force, provide a chance for products to enjoy a new life and become unique, totally personalised objects.
We apologise for the inconvenience and will keep you posted!

Environments and CounterEnvironments Exhibition
“Italy: The New Domestic Landscape”, MoMA 1972
12.11.10 – 20.02.11
The unearthing of documents (plans, models, films, comics, etc.) generated for the 1972 exhibition at the MoMA in New York provides insights into the enthusiasm for change that prompted a group of Italian designers and architects to launch a debate on the socio-cultural implications of design.
Exhibition produced by the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and adapted by the DHUB.
Curators: Mark Wasiuta, Peter Lang and Luca Molinari.

Working Prototypes Exhibition
Design, fabricate and text
07.12.10 – 27.02.11
This exhibition showcases prototypes fabricated during the 2010 Smart Geometry workshop held in Barcelona and offers a broad overview of prototype design—conception, fabrication and analysis—using a combination of computing and numeric production
Curated by Jonathan Rabagliati, from SmartGeometry
SmartGeometry

EcoRedux 02 Exhibition
Design manuals for a dying planet
08.03.11 – 29.05.11

The EcoRedux exhibition documents experiments with ecological materials conducted by groups of alternative architects in the 1960s and 70s. Temporary structures and small-scale strategies—tyres made from used parachutes, hand-made domes built from waste materials, capsules and self-sufficient systems, houses constructed using recycled materials, foam shelters, etc.—all demonstrate the intense environmental and socio-political concerns of the time.
Curated and designed by Lydia Kallipoliti in collaboration with Anna Pla Català and with the help of Amie Shao and Lydia Xynogala.
EcoRedux


FABRICATION LABORATORY is produced by the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB). The DHUB is a combination of a museum, a centre and a laboratory intended to promote a fuller understanding and better use of design. A pioneering initiative in Spain and Europe as a whole, it was set up with the express intention of becoming a centre of centres.


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