Tag: FAB FEST

Fab Fest 2018: “Digital City”, 2nd-10th July 2018

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

FAB FEST is a week-long celebration of design and making, hosted by the Fabrication Lab at the University of Westminster. For the third year running, it invites creative designers from around the world to envision and build their ideas about architecture and the city. It will feature over 80 pavilions and installations designed internationally, manufactured in the Fabrication Lab, and assembled and installed in Central London.

After five days of making, entertainment and international competition, FAB FEST opens to the local community and the general public, with lightweight, recyclable pavilions forming the transient architecture for a series of making events, live musical performances and a three-day exhibition. All the materials for FAB FEST are then recycled, for next year’s event.

FAB FEST this year asks designers to reflect on and offer creative responses to the contemporary digital condition. Proposals might push the boundaries for the digital production of architecture, or engage with wider aspects of how the digital affects our architecture, cities and daily lives. The challenge is to propose a compelling and engaging proposal for a pavilion or installation to manifest your ideas. What does the Digital City mean to you?

For full details, see FABFEST.London

Key Dates:

International Fabrication Competition: July 2nd – 6th | Prize-Giving, Friday July 6th 19:00

Let’s Make! Family-Friendly Making Festival: Saturday July 7th 12:00-16:00 | Music@FABFEST 18:00-22:00

FAB FEST Exhibition: Sunday – Tuesday July 8th – 10th 10:00 – 17:00

Robotic Carving Workshop, 28th-29th June 2018_Deadline for applications: 20th June

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: 28th – 29th JUNE 2018

Deadline: 20th June 2018

The Robotic Carving A.R.T. 2018 summer workshop will investigate ways to transform abstract, intangible data, such as material distribution or density, into physical form.

Participants will learn how to apply structural analysis and topology optimization on shell structures and how to translate structural data into robotic instructions.

The workshop will culminate in a 1:1 robotically carved wall installation that will be exhibited in FAB FEST ‘18.

Apply now online at fabricationlab.london

Textile Robotics Workshop, 25th-27th June 2018_ Deadline for applications: 20th June

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: 25th-27th June 2018

Deadline: 20th June 2018

The Textile Robotics A.R.T. 2018 summer workshop will investigate the ways in which industrial robotic arms can generate large scale structural textiles and automate a generative design process through robotic fabrication.

Using structural analysis and topology optimization, participants will explore different pattern combinations and learn how to translate them into robotic instructions.

The workshop will culminate in a 1:1 robotically fabricated installation that will be exhibited in FAB FEST ‘18.

Apply now online at fabricationlab.london

Architectural Gateway Workshop with Sami Rintala, 18th-22nd June 2018_Deadline for applications: 15th June

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: 18th – 22nd June 2018

Deadline: 15th June 2018

The Architectural Gateway summer workshop is a collaboration with the critically acclaimed Finnish architect Sami Rintala.

Sami’s work is based on narrative and conceptualism, resulting in a layered interpretation of the physical, mental and poetic re-sources of a site. The workshop will culminate in a large-scale installation made of structural corrugated card. It will feature as an entrance to FAB FEST ‘18, as well as forming a dramatic, transitional gateway to Digital Construction Week, a major industry event taking place in Excel in October.

Sami Rintala ran the “last” design & build project with DS3.6 students in Finland last year, and is a remarkable design-through-making teacher:

http://www.fininst.uk/events/lastu-mobile-home/

We are very grateful to the Finnish Institute in London for their generous support for this workshop.

Apply now online at fabricationlab.london 

Join us for the preview of OPEN 2018 on Thursday 14th June, 18:00-21:00

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Calendar of Events

PREVIEW :

THURSDAY 14 JUNE, 6 – 9PM

To be opened by Dr Peter Bonfield OBE
Register at open18.eventbrite.co.uk

STUDENT AWARDS EVENING AND ALUMNI RECEPTION:

FRIDAY 15 JUNE, 6.30 – 8.30PM (Registration from 5.30PM)

RSVP to alumni@westminster.ac.uk

EXHIBITION CONTINUES DAILY:

FRIDAY 15 JUNE – TUESDAY 10 JULY 10AM – 5PM (WEEKENDS 10AM – 2PM)

OCULUS PAVILION: 

THURSDAY 14 JUNE – FRIDAY 13 JULY 9AM – 9PM (SUNDAY 10AM – 2PM)

5m2 pavilion at the rear podium of the University, developed by degree students with the aim to bring people together within a comfortable outdoor microclimate. Precision CNC cut within the University’s Fabrication Laboratory.

Partners: DS3.2, Quintin Hogg Trust Fund, Weber Industries, StructureMode, Fabrication Laboratory, LFA

SYRIA VISIONS OF HOPE: BLOSSOMING IDENTITIES:

THURSDAY 14 JUNE – FRIDAY 13 JULY 9AM – 9PM (SUNDAY 10AM – 2PM)

An experimental exhibition exploring the theme of identity, its manifestations and importance in creating the conditions for a hopeful future with thriving communities and spaces.

FAB FEST ’18: INTERNATIONAL FABRICATION COMPETITION AND PUBLIC FESTIVAL:

FRIDAY 6 JULY: Awards Night, 6.30 – 10PM

SATURDAY 7 JULY: Let’s Make: Family Friendly Making Festival, 12 – 4PM MUSIC@FABFEST, 6 – 10PM

SUNDAY 8 JULY – TUESDAY 10 JULY : Public Exhibition, 10AM – 5PM

All exhibitions are taking place at: University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
T: 020 3506 7003

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/open-2018

FAB FEST 2018 “Digital City”

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The next edition of FAB FEST will take place from 2nd to 10th July 2018 in Ambika P3.

The festival will broadly follow the same format as the previous two events, although some changes are to make it even bigger and better.

Notes from the organiser on the changes for FAB FEST ’18:

  • We are making an open call to all interested students of architecture and are asking for submissions of Design Concepts this year for either pavilions or smaller installations. All the requirements for submission are on our website.
  • Teams have a month from now to form a team and submit their applications. Successful teams will have a further two months to develop their ideas and produce, with our help, the fabrication information for their pavilion or installation. We’ll then manufacture the parts in the Lab and provide them flat-packed, ready for teams to assemble in P3 from the 2nd July.
  • During the assembly week, we will now have use of the newly refurbished Fabrication Lab, and it will be open in the evening all week for participants in the festival to meet each other and unwind.
  • As requested by previous participants, we are asking teams to keep more closely to the brief and to the rules this time, and so will be making the competition aspect of FAB FEST fairer and more prominent. Many teams have taken the competition seriously, and FAB FEST prizes are becoming prestigious for students to win. We will be making more of this aspect of FAB FEST this year, with more guest judges and a bigger judging and prize-giving event on the Friday night.
  • The following events on the Saturday and afterwards are also differentiated more clearly this time. There are now three distinct events following the main week of pavilion assembly and competition:
  • ‘Let’s Make!’ – We are working with a number of local schools over the coming months to develop the community outreach aspect of FAB FEST, and the Saturday afternoon will now be an opportunity to share the contribution from our local community, and to have a more family-oriented set of making and drawing workshops.
  • ‘Music@ FAB FEST’ – For the Saturday evening, there will be a much higher profile musical performance, making use of the one-off artistic venue that P3 and the pavilions provide. We have some of London’s hottest bands in our sights to make the most of this unique opportunity. The event will be open to all FAB FEST participants, but strictly ticketed this year.
  • FAB FEST Exhibition – Finally, we’re extending the exhibition element of the event, to give more people the opportunity to see the pavilions that everyone has worked so hard to produce, before it is recycled back into new card boards for next year’s event (98% of it!).
  • We are also developing the underlying research interests we have been pursuing through FAB FEST. We’ll be building on papers presented last year both on the role of FAB FEST as an experiment in teaching digital design and fabrication, and as a transient intervention in the City. This year we’re working on links to industry, exploring its relevance to the trend towards offsite construction. Let us know if you might be interested in working with us on any of this research.
  • Finally, we have new partners this year contributing to the events, including the Westminster Architecture Society and Digital Construction Week, with more joining over the coming months. Please refer back to the website for current developments.

For full details, please see the new website: fabfest.london, or pop down to the FabLab if you have any questions.

Architectural Robotics Theatre (A.R.T.) workshop at the FAB FEST – Apply by Sunday 16th April

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

FAB FEST team is delighted to announce that FAB FEST ’17 will also feature the launch of the Architectural Robotics Theatre. A.R.T. is a series of research projects exploring how our industrial robots might be used to invent and develop new ways of working with a particular material to create innovative architecture. The projects will all culminate in a week-long public performance in the Lab’s unique robot cell overlooking Marylebone Road.

The first project will focus on innovative ways of working with card and use the robots to create a fantastic pavilion for FAB FEST. FAB LAB team is now looking for students to join the team. The project will be mentored by the Fabrication Lab staff together with Mentors from exparch.hochbau from Innsbruck University, and practitioners from the leading structural engineers, AKT II. In addition to the usual support provided by FAB FEST mentors, the A.R.T. team will also receive presentations in basic robotics, and will learn how to generate tool paths and work with these highly flexible digital fabrication tools. Note that the project will involve a commitment to attending these training workshops and will require a (very worthwhile) investment of your time.

Schedule:

April – Application period Thursday 6th – Sunday 16th of April

April – Design | Concept development

– Robotics | Introduction workshop

May – Design | Design a technical detail and build a 1:20 model

– Robotics | Design concept application and material testing

June – Fabrication | Working drawings production and robotic fabrication of parts

July – Festival | Pavilion installation in Ambika P3

Public robotic performance over the Festival week (2nd – 9th July)

If you wish to apply for this exciting workshop opportunity, the deadline to be part of the A.R.T. team is Sunday 16th April 2017. Please send contact details and a brief motivation paragraph (a description of why you want to apply in about 150 words) to art@fabricationlab.london

For more information, visit FABFEST.london and fablab.london/art, or for specific queries, please contact Eva Magnisali (art@fabricationlab.london).