"Attachment, Durability and the Environmental Impact of Digital DIY" finally published!

After a couple of years waiting, this article was published at The Design Journal (Taylor & Francis) last month. This is the main outcome of the Embedded Research project "Object-user relationships in open design dynamics", a collaboration between Waag Society and VU University developed in 2012-2013. The full article can be downloaded for free here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ynW9faES5IzKZ5Fii8Dz/full

Embedded Research results

Readers interested on digital DIY, attachment and durability can now see a summary of our Embedded Research results at Waag Society's blog.

“Object-user relationships in open design dynamics” was an embedded research of the Faculty of Arts (VU University Amsterdam) in collaboration with Waag Society (Institute of Art, Science and Technology): 15/9/2012 – 15/6/2013. The academic article that resulted from this project is in process of publication at The Design Journal (Bloomsbury). A summary of the outcomes can be found here.

Article "Digital Makers: an Ethnographic Study of the FabLab Amsterdam Users" presented in Milan

Article presented at 5th Sts Italia Conference "A Matter of Design. Making Society through Science and Technology" and published in the conference proceedings (pp.1105-1114).

Abstract

The popularization of digital fabrication tools at a domestic level and through the proliferation of maker labs or spaces is said to put the process of manufacture in the hands of the masses. This phenomenon has had ample repercussion in the media; analysts are announcing that anyone interested can make instead of buying what they need or want, indicating that the boom of participation has arrived to the realm of material objects. 

The future of digital fabrication depends, as in any emergent technology, on both technical developments and the utility found by its users. This ethnographic study of digital makers (users of the FabLab Amsterdam) explores the later, adding a feet-on-the-ground perspective to this discussion. It suggests that these tools are empowering creative people, improving the accuracy and widening the scope of their projects. On the other hand, it also points out that the emergence of an alternative model of consumption based on connected production at a domestic scale described in the media may not be aligned to the current state of affairs.

Amsterdam Urban Innovation Week

Last week Pakhuis de Zwijger hosted the Amsterdam Urban Innovation Week. I attended three sessions:

Redefining Growth
Specially interesting in this session was the talk of Kate Raworth. Raworth demands the inclusion of "the environment" (natural resources, social capital, etc.) in the analysis of our economic model, questioning the perpetual pursuit of economic growth.  Through her diagram of the "Doughnut Economy", she claims for an economic model that balances our needs and the resources available to meet them. A clear and engaging talk for "dummies" in economy, like me.

Makers Movement: 3D printing
This session showed how active is the 3D printing community in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, it involved 15 speakers on the subject! Once again, the discussion of the 3rd Industrial Revolution came up (with Peter Troxler as a first speaker). This time, the message is that the 3D printer is an icon of this change, not necessarily the technology that enables it. In the same line, practitioners highlighted that "it is just one more tool", an statement that is certainly not aligned with the repercussion this technology is having in media. Overall, it seems that the popularity of the 3D printer as a world-changing machine is starting to decline. The managers and representatives of many "maker spaces" pointed out that digital fabrication tools complement traditional technologies. The main gain of this movement, according to them, is that it empowers people; they realize that they can solve their own problems and feel happy to be "in charge".

The Circular City: Sustainist Design
A promising session that didn't quite meet my expectations. However, John Thackara's talk was worthwhile. He claimed we should "forget about cities", since they are part of a bigger system and the circular model is not really achievable. Cities depend on many bigger systems and to ignore them prevent us to take action. With a hands-on approach, Thackara finds that solving local problems through direct engagement with the community is the only effective way to understand the bigger systems; during the talk he presented several local projects in developing and developed countries that involve farming, water systems, etc. as examples of this approach.

Open Design / Shared Creativity Conference in Barcelona

Last week I attended the Open Design Conference in Barcelona. The event presented an interesting mix of open design practices and talks about collaborative consumption, the maker movement, and Barcelona as a digital city, most of them with a strong political component. It was very well organized and in an amazing location, it definitely worth the trip.

From all the talks, I found the opening one- Ezio Manzini's presentation of the possibility of a shift to the scenario defined by him as SLOC (Slow, Local, Open and Connected)- the deepest and at the same time understandable for the general public, with a wide point of view to analyze social transformations beyond the field of design. Moreover, some of the participants of the round table Barcelona Digital City had a surprisingly interesting approach, in particular those connected to academia showed, in my opinion, a good balance between an idealistic and realistic position (Mayo Fuster and Javier Creus). As expected, not all the presentations shared these characteristics and there were also more simplistic and "trendy"approaches of the subject.

Report of the FabLab Amsterdam survey

The results of the FabLab Amsterdam survey, collected during November 2012, are now available. 

Download the document here:


FabLab Report Final by equipodyc4

Survey raw data

Download this document here:

Appendices by equipodyc4

Towards openness: A study about open design and its translation from theory into practice.

MA Thesis.
Analysis of OD based on the cases of Fablab Amsterdam and FabLab Utretch (interviews).

Author: Juliana Paiva
Year: 2012

Download MA Thesis

FabLabs overview

Fab Labs overview from La Fing