iAtelier residencies in Spain successfully finished

Between March 10^th  and 26^th 2021, nine Spanish makers participated in the second residency of iAtelier-  Technology & Innovative Practice to develop five projects combining traditional and digital fabrication technologies. The whole programme has been held at the EXarchitects and FABDEFAB FabLab in Villaviciosa de Odón (Madrid).

The programme started in September 2020 with the Sandbox Event where twenty-six participants from all over Spain met virtually to learn about new digital fabrication tools. The main goal of this event was to establish synergies between craft makers and digital designers to develop a common project applying both their craft skills and their digital knowledge. Among the craftspeople profiles, ceramics was the sector with most popular discipline followed by jewellery, textiles and wood. On the other hand, digital profiles were characterised by their ability to use digital software such as Grasshopper, Adobe or AutoCAD.

After the Sandbox Event, participants had to propose a project to apply for the first experimentation residency. Out of the 16 submitted proposals, 5 projects were selected considering the quality of the proposal, its viability and the availability of tools in the workshop. All selected projects integrated different trades, techniques and skills. During the first residency that took place between October 19^th  and 23^rd, participants had access to the space and equipment of the FabLab and started to develop and explore their ideas together with the guidance of the experts.

After the first residency, the FabLab team continued virtually training, advising and working with the participants for several weeks. Participants had around four months to develop and define their ideas. The second production residency was divided into two weeks, from March 10^th to 12^th and 24^th to 26^th. The projects began to be produced and previous designs were materialised in the following proposals:

• Digital Threads: a project inspired in a loom as a creation tool. The knowledge of wood and 3D of the designer Kelly Begiazi has been combined with the textile craft skills of Mariana Piñar to design two beautiful pieces of furniture. They have used the CNC router together with the technique of wood bending called kerfing and the weaving of textile fibres. The combination of different techniques has resulted in two design chairs made of birch plywood.
• Delta (Δ): this project proposes a constructive system based on deltahedra pieces that can be adapted to different scales, from a large lighting installation to a small urban structure. In this project, María Camba has made use of 3D printing and CNC routering to design a series of connectors that allows joining different elements to build a polyhedral structure.
• Packaging DPO: a project that aims to redefine the Spanish ceramic tradition through new techniques, design and production processes using 3D printing technology. The combination of the skilled ceramist Marina Valls, the experience of Tiziana Chiara working with glass, together with the ability in visual representation and 3D design of Antonio Domínguez has generated the perfect team to develop this project. They have combined traditional processes such as firing pottery and glassblowing with digital printing in PLA plastic and ceramic extrusion, to obtain a product inspired by traditional ceramic pieces from Manises (Valence).
• Parenchyma: is a project focused on the creation of jewellery pieces and accessories through polyhedral three-dimensional structures printed in 3D together with a specific design packaging according to each piece and material. Marta Alaminos and Chama Navarro shared skills and techniques and improved their ability with digital drawing programs. Parenchyma is the result of combining 3D printing with electroforming processes for copper covering jewellery and CNC router and laser cutting for the packaging.
• Natural Patterns: prototyping of flexible moulds for felt shaping. With this project, Yolanda Sánchez aims to use 3D printing technologies to learn about new opportunities to handle this material and its possible applications in fashion, architecture or interior design. Printing in 3D with flexible material allowed Yolanda to design a series of new tools that eases her work when she has to manipulate and shape felt manually.

Maker profiles and projects can be found here.