PROJECTS     ABOUT US     GET INVOLVED     BLOG     CONTACT

RE_FAB

A mobile fabrication lab that brings digital tools and educational activities to your front door.

UDBS_REFAB_Use

The increasingly popular maker movement is often inaccessible to those from challenged communities. Mobilization of RE_FAB to Pittsburgh neighborhoods and schools allows for a wide target audience with a variety of ages and incomes. RE_FAB will provide education about CNC routing and will eventually expand to include laser cutting, vacuum forming, digital spatial scanning, and 3D printing. It will bring custom production capabilities to community construction projects and will be used for public interest design developed at PROJECT RE_.

The lab’s structure and cladding were designed to demonstrate the capacity of the digital fabrication tools it houses as inspiration for the community. RE_FAB construction was completed in August 2014 after a two year effort sponsored by Ford College Community Challenge, Autodesk Foundation, and the Heinz Endowments. If you are interested in bringing RE_FAB to your community or classroom, contact us.

Project Team

CLIENT

PROJECT RE_

PARTNERS

CMU School of Drama Lighting Design
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania AFFECT Program
Trade Institute of Pittsburgh

CONSULTANTS

Filip Agren of Standard & Custom, LLC
Zach Ali

SUPPORTERS

Ford Motor Company
Autodesk Foundation
The Heinz Endowments

DESIGN TEAM

John Folan, UDBS Director
Ming Ming Lin, UDBS Fellow
Alise Kuwahara Day, UDBS Fellow
Sandra Kalanyan
Ying Lin
Matthew Dawson

CONTRIBUTORS

Noelle White, Sharon Rubin, Zachary Bauer, Morgan Stampf, Christopher Chan, J William Gott

AECM CONTRIBUTORS

Jessica Rinn, Ziwen Shen, Xiaoxi Song, Omer Akin (AECM Coordinator)