Digital fabrication, or fabbing, is the name given to a range of techniques and technologies that can make physical things from your digital data.   Create your design in your favourite 2d or 3d package then send it to one of a range of machines that can cut, machine, drill, or sculpt your design into a physical object.

Fabbing has been around for decades but recently cheaper and more powerful equipment has made it far more accessible to creative makers.    The range of things that you can create with fabbing technology is increasing by the day.   Here are a few of our current favourites.

Fashion

3d Printed Shoes

Developed in 2006 by TNO Science and Industry and independent designer Sjors Bergmans of Sjors Bergmans Concept Design these 3d printed shoes come out of the machine as shown above, no assembly required.

Read more: http://mass-customization.blogs.com/mass_customization_open_i/2006/10/footwear_custom.html

More recently Swedish students have used the same process to create these  shoes for a fashion project that explores how digital fabrication techniques can be used to produce and recycle objects within a closed loop.

Read more: http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_melonia_shoe_a_worlds_first_wearable_3d_printed_footwear_15995.asp

3d Printed Textiles

Designer Jiri Evenhuis, in collaboration with Janne Kyttanen from Freedom of Creation have also used 3d printing to explore fashion and sustainable production.  Using recyclable thermoplastic to 3d print textiles means there is very little waste and that the production can be localized which means fewer shipping miles.  The whole garment can be printed in one pass – making needle and thread redundant and compressing fabrication time to a matter of hours rather than days or weeks.

Read more: http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/

Personalised Headphones

‘Street Headphones’ are just one of many personalised products from Amsterdam based company Freedom of Creation. FoC is one of a new breed of design/research companies exploring new distribution techniques as well as creating new fabbed design products. Street Headphones are the ultimate personalised fashion accessory, bespoke designs that allow you to literally wear your taste in music.

Read more: http://www.freedomofcreation.com/shop/images/products/824/headphones_store.jpg

Architecture

Planter Bricks

Designed by San Fratello Architects the ‘planter brick’ is a masonry brick that can hold plants and vegetation.  The bricks are designed in such a way that water and nutrients can move through a network of continuous drip irrigation tubes.  As well as being beautiful the bricks can help counter pollution, act as noise buffer and filter the air.

Read more: http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bricks-birds.jpg

Read more:  http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/?p=60

Fab Lab House

Developed by the global Fab Lab network and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia the Fab Lab house was designed and built using timber cut on CNC machines.  Based around the concept that ‘form follows energy ‘ the house produces three times more energy than it consumes.

Read more: http://www.fablabhouse.com/en/