fabLAB Asturias

fabLAB Asturias is one of the labs integrated in the global network of fab labs, among other workshops that research on digital manufacturing using computer-controlled machines to manufacture physical objects from digital designs, as well as projecting and creating electronic tools and devices.

Fab Labs were originally an initiative by the Center for Bits and Atoms of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) aimed at facilitating access to these new means of research, creation and production. The global network of Fab Labs connects more than 100 labs located in 30 countries in order to share documentation, projects and experiences, thus building one of the world’s largest network of distributed knowledge, which grows exponentially with the creation of new labs at a surprising pace.

fabLAB Asturias, located within the Production Centre Plataforma 0 of LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, offers a unique creative environment in the network of Fab Labs due to its relationship between art and new technologies, which is the hallmark of the Centre since its creation, based on the relationship between the artistic arena and cultural industries, ICTs and the educational institutions related with the line of work of the Art Centre.

fabLAB Asturias is a centre for the research on the creative applications of digital manufacturing, but also an important educational resource and a node aimed at building a community that fosters the cultural and economic development of its environment.

In the field of research, fabLAB Asturias works on its own projects aimed at finding applications of digital manufacturing for artistic and industrial creation, designing devices and tools and making them available to the public following the open source philosophy.

As an educational resource, fabLAB Asturias follows the experience of LABoral Centro de Arte and offers resources to local educational institutions, and also to individuals, by means of courses, workshops or collaboration programmes. These activities, on the one hand, offer the knowledge and the access to techniques of digital design and manufacturing and, on the other hand, support creativity and open new lines of work regarding training and education. In addition, fabLAB Asturias, by sharing the results and documentation of its research and projects, becomes a public repository of information that can inspire the same processes in its local and global environment.

Moreover, fabLAB Asturias is intended to be a work resource that can connect creators, firms and educators in lab processes, by means of residency programmes, internships, collaborations and shared research projects. In addition, it also offers resources open to the public by means of open house days and a membership programme that provides access to use the machines for one’s own projects.