Digital fabrication
Introduction Digital fabrication
General introduction of approach
Digital fabrication is a manufacturing process in which a machine is operated by a computer to make something. Sometimes digital fabrication is classed by the processes used - subtractive, additive formative or joining - or sometimes by the difference materials used. Generally it involves technologies such as CNC milling (computer numerical control milling where shapes are cut from sheets), laser cutting (where materials are burnt or melted by a laser beam) or 3D printing (where objects are built up from layers). Sometimes referred to as ‘rapid prototyping’, it allows for one-off designs to be produced at a relatively low costs, for experimentation, and for those not usually involved in design and manufacture the possibility to create. Larger companies have also begun to use digital fabrication processes.
Shapes, sizes and applications
One of the most widely known approaches that utilizes digital fabrication are Fablabs (digital fabrication laboratories). They provide wider access to the means for digital fabrication, or invention more generally, and began as an outreach initiative at MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. It has since grown into a global network. Fablabs are open to the public and provide people with access to training, tools and designs associated with digital fabrication. Typically they will have a number of flexible computer-controlled tools, and are aligned in certain respects with open-source, DIY, and maker cultures/movements. The approach has been written about in-depth by the TRANSIT project[1]. A more explicitly urban and sustainability focussed approach is the idea of the Fab City. It is an international initiative started by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, and the above mentioned MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, Barcelona City Council and the FabFoundation. The idea is to develop self-sufficient cities, in which produce locally as part of a circular chain, whilst information on how to produce locally is spread globally. In essence, it is about scaling up the FabLab approach to a city and adopting an explicitly sustainable approach.
Relation to UrbanA themes: Urban, sustainability, and justice
Digital fabrication can take place wherever the tools (and expertise) are available. However, Fab Labs are almost exclusively located in cities, due to the concentration of interest and capital. The Fab City idea, is clearly urban in focus. Indeed, if the availability of digital fabrication tools grows, then it is possible to imagine how it might instigate a return of (certain types of) manufacturing to cities in Europe as urban areas move towards self-sufficiency. Localised production is clearly beneficial to the environment due to reduced transportation, whilst production on demand reduces waste. However, there appear to be no in built justice mechanisms within such approaches. It depends upon what local groups choose to do within the wider ‘movement’ (if it can be classed as a movement).
Narrative of change
Digital fabrication is a disruptive technology-enabled innovation that re-aligns supply chains, turns consumers into producers and thus has the potential to democratise production and consumption. It is a digital technological innovation that is localised, yet linked to global networks. As such, it is possible to learn from global flows of knowledge and innovation, whilst rooting production and creation in local needs and desires. It can shorten supply chains, open up production and lead to new and unforeseen creations.
Transformative potential
Though it might seem like an obvious point to make, the transformative potential of digital fabrication depends very much on the purposes for which it is used. For instance, people might print guns on 3D printers to form militias and stop poor people entering the city once the climate apocalypse has destroyed most of the world. Moreover, FabLabs might be used for personal transformation projects (e.g. budding entrepreneurs) rather than socially transformative projects. Digital fabrication could be used for decentralised democratised production, or increasingly individualised, neoliberal endeavours.