Fablab Amsterdam was present at the Amsterdam Maker Festival at De Kromhouthal in Amsterdam Noord on 31 May 2014. It was like displacing a lively Fablab Amsterdam.
The prosthesis mould making, a fashion photo shooting, having a pasta lunch at a state-of-the-art craft table, experimenting with collecting bacteria on our skin, and the wonderful atmosphere of working together on multiple-disciplinary projects - that was what Fablab Amsterdam liked to show to the public at the Maker Festival.
There were several projects on display at our space. First of all, the beautiful dresses designed and fabricated by fashion designer Cecilia Raspanti. She is inspired by Ernst Haeckel's studies in 'Art forms in nature' ('Kunstformen der Natur’) for designing voronoi geometries in her series of dresses and earrings. She also experiments, by weaving the laser-cutted materials. The most important thing is that she made these beautiful pieces wearable with girls of all sizes in mind. Even two guys were interested to try on the coat. Her pieces apply not only the nature element to fashion but also the idea that digital fabrication can used for a wider audience.
People were equally impressed by the research project Low-cost prosthesis. It aims at developing a lower-knee prosthetic with a production costs of $ 50. The presentation at the Maker Festival showed the progress of the research on the socket, by making one piece of the self-adjustable connection. The prototype assembled from different parts showed how to apply hand-made technics, software design, digital fabrication and 3D modeling by using different machines of the Fablab.
On the spot, the project was presented by Yolanda Rendón and Stein Steenbergen, who demonstrated how to cast the mould for the socket with pineapple fibers. They have done experiments with several local materials like banana fiber, pineapple fiber, and coconut fiber combined with polyurethane resin. At the end, the pineapple fiber proved to be the best outcome for both body load and weight. The project arose people’s attention and invoked more research in the medical field.
Above all, Fablab Amsterdam is regarded as a meeting point of people from different backgrounds that can vary from art, fashion and design to biology and medical science. The atmosphere is unique and vibrant, and the only way to experience it is to come and visit us in Fablab Amsterdam at the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam.
