Skip to main content
Fab Academy 2022 by Anna Trap
Anna Trap voor Waag BY-NC-SA
make

Open Design Lab

The Open Design Lab investigates open collaboration methods and processes. We look at how the results can have shared ownership. We believe that design cannot remain exclusive.

The FabLab in the Waag is part of the Open Design Lab. This is the oldest FabLab in the Netherlands. As a place for digital fabrication and design, it houses the same machines as all the other FabLabs in the world. Enthusiasts, designers, artists and activists can work here to experiment, design and make objects, materials and products. The designs are shared worldwide and are open-source, so that they can be made anywhere in the world. We call this Open Design.

We believe that design cannot remain exclusive. Designs should be shared globally and be open-source.

The principle of Open Design is reflected in what we call 'Fab City Networks'. In these networks, local FabLabs play an important role in small-scale production of products that can be used for housing, cooperation between citizens and the design of public spaces. Accountability for the origin of materials and circular production are central to this.

By making things, opening them up and through unmaking (investigating what is no longer needed, and discarding or disposing of this) we think critically about technology. Art, science and collaborations between the two (art-science) also offer new perspectives on technology and its design.

The Open Design Lab represents Waag in the European initiative STARTS, a joint venture with Ars Electronica, BOZAR and others to promote activities at the cutting edge of art, technology and science.

Expert Open Design

Team

Natalia Vargas, Waag, door Jimena Gauna

Natalia Vargas

Miha Tursic

Miha Turšič

Zeynep Birsel

Zeynep Birsel

Zoénie Liwen Deng

Zoénie Liwen Deng

Maro Perez Bobadilla, door Jimena Gauna

Maro Pebo

Links

Current projects

Twee mensen staan aan een houten tafel en kijken naar een laptop. Achter hen hangt een zwarte plaat aan de muur met daarop de tekst 'The anatomy of an AI system'.
Open Design Lab

HAMLET

HAMLET’s mission is to make the benefits of generative AI accessible to organisations of all sizes, in order to foster a sustainable digital transition.
starts4water2
Open Design Lab

S+T+ARTS4WaterII

S+T+ARTS4WaterII focuses on clean water as a basic right for all people and the preservation of life in our oceans, seas and marine life.
S+T+ARTS Prize trophy with logo
Open Design Lab

S+T+ARTS Prize

The STARTS Prize is an annual recognition of two innovative projects at the interface of science, technology and art.
Female Farm beauty products
Open Design Lab

Better Factory

Better Factory will provide methodology and opportunities for manufacturers to collaborate with artists at developing new and personalized products.
Cyberspecies Proximity by Anna Dumitriu & Alex May
Open Design Lab

Vojext

By collaborating with artists, technology partners and manufacturers, Vojext addresses human-robot interaction that contributes to today’s societal and also environmental challenges. 
Artsformation - Digital Shadows
Open Design Lab

Artsformation

Mobilising the arts for an inclusive digital transformation: a response to societal challenges proposed by the fast-pacing digital transformation.
Open Next - Embassy of Health DDW
Open Design Lab

Open Next

Today’s mass-produced product creation is expensive, risky and unsustainable. SMEs and maker communities across Europe are coming together to fundamentally change the way we create, produce, and distribute products.
Go to closed projects by the Open Design Lab