This week our class took a little detour to the Fab Lab. It was our first time visiting a MakerLab space other than our own. The Fab Lab was actually really incredible in a lot of ways and actually quite different from the Maker Lab. I was honestly expecting it to be super similar to the Maker Lab but it definitely had a way different feel to it that the Maker Lab.
For starters, it felt a lot more rustic and upstart due to the nature of the building itself. We were told it actually used to be a place to hold horses and they used to shove the waste outside of the huge doors. Since then the Fab Lab space has been transformed to hold an electronic’s space, a biotech space, a wood laser printing space, a dance studio, and more. It’s also filled to the brim with people attending workshops, teaching, and of course making.
They have all sorts of tools on hand ranging from 3D printers to Arduino. There’s also helpful staff there to help you out if you need to learn anything or don’t know how to do something. We even saw a kid print out his own customized puzzle of a tiger. The workshops themselves seemed really cool. We were told they really try to incorporate everything from electronics to fabrics if they do a workshop you could learn how to sew and code all in one day.
I think our class really enjoyed moving through the space and getting to see all the cool things that are done at the Fab Lab. Particularly the making tools outside of 3D printing. Which is really all our class has covered up until this point. So, it was very fascinating to see what else is out there in terms of physically making things with the power of modern technology, like the laser wood cutter that could make a box much quicker than a 3D printer could.
Hey Ian,
Nice post, I was also expecting the Fablab to be like the MakerLab, but it definitely had a totally different feel to it. I liked how they incorporated different ways of making into one workshop. For example, the coding and sewing in one workshop seemed really cool and I feel like that could definitely open up your creativity a lot. I am excited to go back to the Fablab and can’t wait to see what else I can learn in these next two weeks.
Hey Ian,
I think you wrote an excellent post that was very articulate and had some great content! I definitely agree that the fab lab turned out to be much different than my original pre-conceived expectations as well. And, I couldn’t agree more with you that it was such a rich, huge learning, and enjoyable experience. To be honest, I think this was my favorite class to date for Digital Making Seminar. I also really appreciated how you brought up the diversity of the people inside the Fab Lab. From people attending workshops, teaching, and of course making to all the fascinating and innovative things that were taking place in the Fab Lab. I can’t wait to actually experience the coding aspect of the fab lab that you experienced this past week. And lastly, who is that really good looking asian you posted in the last picture of your post, he looks really familiar!