Making “Making” Critical: How Sustainability is Constituted in Fab Lab Ideology

Abstract

Fab Labs, fabrication laboratories, are shared workshops where citizens can access digital fabrication equipment to design and make their own objects. They are proliferating rapidly and represent an alternative to mass production and consumption, an ideology whose environmental and social benefits their "makers" like to espouse. A longitudinal ethnographic study in a Fab Lab in a European design school examined the Lab's ideology building, how ideals were enacted and where compromises were visible. Environmental issues were intertwined with other ideological concerns, but they were rarely promoted in their own right. Engagement with sustainability-oriented makers and stakeholders is recommended.

Socializing Value Creation Through Practices of Making Clothing Differently: A Case Study of a Makershop With Diverse Locals

“…fabrication laboratories) and makerspaces are alternative sites of production, set up by and for participants to use tools, equipment and facilities in order to design and produce their own artefacts. They offer means of personal fabrication in a social and collaborative set-up (Kohtala, 2016). Fab Labs are considered the most organized type of such sites, as they have a rather clear identity, held together by an international network (www.fablabs.io) fostering also production innovation and closer collaboration with business-partners.…”

“…Fab Labs are considered the most organized type of such sites, as they have a rather clear identity, held together by an international network (www.fablabs.io) fostering also production innovation and closer collaboration with business-partners. Makerspaces, in comparison, refer to any kind of collaborative workshop space (Kohtala, 2016), not necessarily emphasizing technology and innovation. Henceforth, the term makerspace is preferred in this article, as it implies the possibility for a more diversified program of making activities.…”

Cui bono? Nodes of Participation in the Maker Movement

“…Osunyomi et al (2016a) observed a lack of research according to the sharing of information and the culture of global co-creation. Further in-depth questions arise about people's attitudes and their basic convictions (see, according to sustainability aspects, Kohtala, 2017;Fleischmann, Hielscher & Merritt, 2016). How do FabLab representatives themselves reflect the maker movement, what hinders them, what are their strengths?…”

Makerspace for skills development in the industry 4.0 era

“…In these environments, participants are expected to use these devices independently, encouraging peer learning and knowledge sharing, providing dynamic interactions for experimentation, education, research, and production among participants (Kohtala, 2017). Makerspaces are becoming increasingly popular features of Universities and other educational institutions, and the idea has even extended out into cities, with Makerspaces open to the public (Farritor, 2017).…”