About Fabricademy

Fabricademy, Textile and Technology academy is a multidisciplinary 6-month intensive program at the intersection of digital fabrication, textiles and biology. The program explores the interrelation of human-technology-environment through the notions of embodiment, materiality, ecodesign, biodesign, performance, smart textiles and digital fabrication. Our mission is to (re)shape and (re)define the implications and applications of technology in the textile and clothing industry, from the fashion sector to the upcoming wearable market. The program offers a broad overview of the state of the art of the current industry and builds on “learning by doing” methodologies, tackling themes like personal fabrication, distributed manufacturing, industry 4.0, wearable technology, biofabrication, assistive technologies and sustainability.

The textile and clothing industry needs to explore and start to implement more viable, sustainable and fair alternative systems of today. The program focuses on the unethical and environmentally unfriendly realities of the current industry while combining the knowledge of traditional and future craftsmanship to work towards new ways of designing, prototyping and producing for the slowly changing textile and fashion industry.

SUSTAINABILITY

Exploring the role of future eco-pioneers and material designers for a circular and sustainable textile and clothing field, bringing together craftsmanship knowledge and disruptive technologies. The lectures and hands-on learning sessions offer a view on the past and future of sustainable craftsmanship: an array of techniques for environmentally friendly alternatives for the fields of textile and clothing. This sustainability area of research clusters knowledge from biomaterials, natural pigment & dyes fabrication, modular reconfigurable laser cut designs, and the solidification of soft fabrics into hard-structures for technical textile applications. It also introduces the participants to basic biotechnology practices It combines the following modules: State of Art, Biochromes, OSCircular fashion and Biofabricating materials.

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

The Wearable tech research area focuses on the design and integration of electronics with and as textiles for the development of smart fabrics that are aesthetically and performance-wise enhanced with microcontrollers, sensors, actuators and programmable logics. Participants will obtain basic programming, hardware design and circuit crafting skills in order to create interactive prototypes using conductive threads, fabrics, e-embroidery and other techniques. The projects can be developed for a broad range of applications, from performative arts to healthcare solutions. It combines the following modules: E-textiles, Wearables, Soft robotics, Skin electronics.

INDUSTRY 4.0

Developing skills and exploring the field of new technologies such as 3D scanning, 3D printing(additive manufacturing), parametric design and 3D modeling, as well as subtractive manufacturing, such as CNC milling and laser cutting. A combination of intensive workshops, where participants learn how to create digital files for apparel, fashion and accessories that are enabling mass customization, local manufacturing and reshape the factories of the Future through a performance-based hands-on approach to design. It combines the following modules: Digital Bodies, Computational Couture, OsHardware from fibers to fabrics, Textile Scaffold.

INNOVATION NARRATIVES

The innovation narratives research area provides participants with theoretical knowledge about disruptive technologies, materials and processes that are transforming today's industry and creating the culture and conditions to innovate and change. Gain a set of unique perspectives in the textile field, further develop your critical thinking to integrate sustainable design strategies that consider environmental, ethical and societal challenges. Through a multidisciplinary approach, understand how different expertises can be combined to generate alternative opportunities and new hybrid professions. Create career development opportunities for professional women to acquire positions, confidence, leadership and entrepreneurial skills to promote gender parity in the leadership of the textile and fashion industry.

Manifesto

More than 50 years ago, science fiction authors such as Asimov predicted video conferencing systems, remote learning, artificial intelligence, and mostly all the advanced technologies we are deploying in our life today. The ubiquity of knowledge and information is transforming culture and learning processes for people, changing completely the way we work, live and play. Hyperconnectivity through digital platforms is becoming symbiotic with the physical realm, creating synergies between bits and atoms in places like Fab Labs, Makerspaces, BiotechLabs, Innovation hubs and TextileLabs all over the planet. Digital fabrication laboratories are becoming incubators for innovative technologies and creators of spin-offs and disruptive initiatives that are being implemented in the “real” world. The possibilities to conduct experimental research in an open laboratory gives the physical and mental space for innovative re-thinking and reframing of today's realities, offering the resources for visions to be materialized, tested, developed and make an active impact in people’s life, no as a linear process, but as a spiral iteration and implementation in the reality. Through the program of the Academy, we are developing and implementing a new approach on to how to create, to produce and distribute textile and fashion elements, by using distributed manufacturing infrastructures and knowledge networks. Along with experts from the field, the participants will investigate how the textile and clothing industry can benefit from new technologies, processes and business models. We are experimenting with the human body, culture and mindset by recycling, hacking and sensing it, creating feedback loops with project development, where materials, aesthetics, sustainability and customization play equal and important roles. The academy offers a cross-disciplinary education and research platform, where production and culture through advanced technologies are making an impact in the way we think and act towards the textile industry and all of its application fields. Working locally, while creating connected communities globally. We are not waiting for things to change, we are changing them from the ground up.