Photos by Thiago Kunz

In response to the request of the CCCB Barcelona to create furniture – in particular for the Big Bang Data Exhibition – that would fit the ever changing needs of a space for workshops, the Fab Lab Barcelona and the design team of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) proposed several options.

“The Water Team”, a team of Master in Advanced Architecture students designed a modular system with the goal of creating an open source design that would fulfil the needs of the diverse people using the space offering multifunctional possibilities.

The choice of this design as the winner is based not only on aesthetics, but on the strength and sturdiness of the piece, as it will be used by thousands of people over time.

The following parameters were also taken into account: the use of plywood as the material chosen for the design, time laser cutting boards and hands and quick mounting system.

The result is this open source design that follows the philosophy of good digital fabrication practices linked to Fab10 Barcelona, an event that will bring together the international community of Fab Labs from the 2nd through the 8th of July in Barcelona.

Designed and Manufactured by Master in Advanced Architecture Students: Ruxandra Iancu Bratosin, Gokhan Catikkas, Hriday Saini, Maria Czajcynska and Rodion Eremeev.

IaaC | Fab Lab Barcelona was featured in El Periodico as a central player for Digital Fabrication innovation in Barcelona, and in preparation for FAB10, the 10th International Fab Lab Conference that will be held in IaaC | Fab Lab Barcelona this year.

Barcelona is a city with an important and imposing industrial history, and that is currently supporting and pushing for innovation in many fields, including economy, culture and education. The main mission for the city of Barcelona is to redefine the future of cities based on a self-sufficiency model for the production of resources and social well-being.

In this sense, Barcelona will be the first city in the world to have a public network of Fab Labs, as part of the cities future plan, and in line with Fab10′s main theme: From Fab Labs to Fab Cities, by which the city of Barcelona aims to have at least one Fab Lab in every district. This implementation will allow to discover the talent present in the city itself, give the citizens and users the possibility to gain understanding and control of the technology available and its potentials.

Read the article here.

IaaC was represented by Rodrigo Rubio tonight at the Roca Gallery Barcelona that hosted a conference regarding Self Sufficient Energy, and in particular the Case of the Solar Decathlon in Catalonia. The evening was kicked off by Georg W. Reinberg who gave an introduction entitled “Towards an efficient and productive Architecture”. A series of projects and prototypes were then presented among which the Fab Lab House developed in IaaC for the Solar decathlon 2010 held in Madrid. Other projects presented included: Torsten Masseck (Low3); Jordi Mitjans, Adrià Vilajoana, Bernat Colomé, Martí Obiols, Guillem Ramon Pernau, Sara Ferran, (ETSAV).

This was the first session of a Series of conferences that will be held at the Roca Gallery Barcelona all regarding the theme of Efficiency in Architecture.

Smart Citizen is a sensor board based in Arduino that could be used as a environmental conditions detector in each citizen’s balcony, using their WiFi connection and solar powered. An Open-Source Environmental Monitoring Platform consisting of arduino-compatible hardware, data visualization web API, and mobile app.

Smart Citizen is a start-up project developed by IAAC, FAB LAB Barcelona, MID Media Interactive Design, Acrobatic Industries, HANGAR.ORG.

Support Smart Citizen project in Kickstarter!!

The 24th of June is the day for celebrating Sant Joan in Catalunya. On the eve of Sant Joan, people go to the beach to dance, make bonfires and set off fireworks to welcome the summer. In the Fab Lab BCN…we make.

The Sant Joan workshop participants were part of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Fab Lab BCN welcomed 50 people that had never used digital fabrication technologies and introduced this new way of production. Each participant designed and made their own customized lamps. The technique used was the waffle structure, or ribbing process, a technique often used for fabricating with the laser cutters in the Fab Lab.

This workshop was part of a major event organized by McKinsey in Barcelona in various locations, having around 1,500 people participating in different activities throughout the city.

The workshop was coordinated by the Fab Lab Barcelona and Dreinull.

Workshop tutors and assistants: Maria Antonia Campos, Brian Peters, Carlos Castro, Antonio Atripaldi, and Carlo Caltabiano.

(Above: Winning lamp design)

On Wednesday, 1 June, Fab Academy 2011 program presented their projects for an Open House at the Fab Lab BCN in IAAC.

Over the Fab Lab video conference network, 15 Labs from around the world shared the last 6 months of projects from Circuit production to Furniture design. More than 8 countries such as Iceland, Kenya, the Netherlands, Spain or United States participated in the second edition of the newly created academy, directed by Neil Gershenfeld and supported by the Fab Lab Network.

IAAC and the Fab Lab BCN were recently featured in a story about the future of 3D printing on TV3 Televisió de Catalunya. Tomas Diez, Project Manager in the Fab Lab BCN, and Marta Malé-Alemany, Co-Director of IAAC’s MAA Program, explained the work that went into the current exhibition on display at DHUB Barcelona, Full Print3d.

This exhibition will be on view at DHUB BCN until 22 May.

This week IAAC is hosting undergraduate architecture students from Universidad Iberoamericana in the Dominican Republic. The students, led by IAAC Alum Bianny Poueriet Galarza, have been taking a 4-day (express) Digital Fabrication class using CNC cutting techniques in the Fab Lab BCN with Tomas Diez, Fab Lab Barcelona Project Manager..