Fab-lab Sloterdijk: Customized architecture through digital making

The concept of Fab-lab Sloterdijk is based on increasing the porosity of the border condition of the highway A10, which aims at vitalizing the Ringzone for future economic development of Amsterdam, and empowering the people with tools to make their life. To stitch the disconnection between Amsterdam’s go-to and no-go areas, the design envisions downgrading the ring road and turning exit bypass into bicycle highway – a new frontage of buildings along it. Towards a future of digital production, Fab-lab combines typologies of fabrication workshop and co-working space to provide a platform for sharing economy and open access to knowledge. The project challenges the current model of fabrication that factories are all excluded from the city by bringing fabrication back to a vertical urban factory specializing at prototyping and customization of products. Local production of building material is made possible with integration of robotic arms and 3D printers to fabricate with local collected resource. By doing so, digital construction with recycled resources enables customized architecture and builds towards circular economy. Fab-lab which houses automated digital fabrication will manifest itself through system of digital construction. Empowered by Fab-lab, the future of economy lies in the hands of people, who makes their own city