The Winter 2012 issue of the Ward 5 Heartbeat includes an article on the Fab Lab DC at 1418 North Capitol Street NW. Thanks to Brian Cognato for his story below!
Fab Lab DC: The Intersection of Art, Industry and Technology in Ward 5
BY BRIAN COGNATO ON BEHALF OF THE BATES AREA CIVIC ASSOCIATION
In a nondescript, faded building on the western edge of Ward 5, you can find Fab Lab DC, the local beachhead of what Wired Magazine calls the “New Industrial Revolution.” Located at 1418 North Capitol Street NW, Fab Lab is short for “fabrication laboratory.”
With the pun on “fabulous” fully intended, Fab Lab DC is part artists’ studio, part workshop and part event and gallery space. Fab Lab aims to take the mystery out of how objects are made. It asks you the question, “What would you do if you could make almost anything?”
Worldwide, there are over 200 Fab Labs, all founded with the goal of helping individual people design and create unique solutions to their unique challenges.
A fully stocked Fab Lab has tools like a 3-D printer, which “prints” plastic into any shape you can dream of, and a CNC router, which can cut incredibly precise designs into a host of materials. Add a few more tools, some high-tech and some old fashioned, and the possibilities are limited only by your imagination: toys, furniture, appliances, sculptures, even pre-fabricated houses have all come out of Fab Labs.
Fab Lab DC is relatively young, but growing. It boasts a small 3-D printer and a range of cutting tools, including a mini-mill and vinyl cutter. Securing a CNC router is high on the Lab’s priority list.
Launched in late 2011, Fab Lab DC is a nonprofit organization led by Phyllis Klein, a consultant and longtime D.C. resident, and her husband, Alex Mayer, an artist and designer. A dedicated team of volunteers helps out.
Fab Lab DC will soon offer a range of ways for people to use its tools and learn the basics of fabrication. Classes, one-time workshops, and subscription access will be offered in addition to events and exhibitions.
Klein and Mayer have owned the building that houses Fab Lab DC since the 1980’s. They leased it to a pharmacist for nearly two decades until the pharmacist closed shop. The pair unsuccessfully tried to lease the space for community-serving retail until a friend introduced Phyllis to the “Fab” movement.
The couple, harnessing the Do-It-Yourself ethos that animates Fab Labs everywhere, thought a Lab might offer a unique opportunity to enhance the community and bring a valuable asset to DC. “We focused on bringing something positive to the neighborhood ourselves,” Phyllis explains. “With backgrounds in art, ‘maker spaces,’ education, real estate, and urban renewal, Fab Lab seemed like a perfect fit.”
Phyllis ticks off the list of things she envisions in the Fab Lab when it gets to capacity: classes; networking and mentoring opportunities; a workshop for local artists, architects and designers; an educational space and more.
Fab Lab DC recently launched its first speaker series, dotted with events like a workshop in Arduino (a basic and accessible form of microchip) and a class in “hacking” the Microsoft Kinect game console, which can sense body movements.
Right now, Phyllis is working on a partnership to start a “Fab Club” at a local independent high school and soon hopes to launch an international exchange program with other labs around the world.
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To learn more and start brainstorming your own creation, visit fablabdc.org, follow @FabLabDC on Twitter or email info @ fablabdc.org.
Bates Area Civic Association 