Twenty students from the Faculty of Architecture at Sapienza University in Rome will attend the Fab Lab at the Phyrtual Innovation Gym for one week to discover how digital manufacturing is modifying the architectural profession.
The most evident change is evident in the time it takes to produce models, a process that was once long and complicated. Today, a designer can imagine a form, a jewel or an object and immediately print its using shared labs such as the Fab Lab.
Prototyping processes have been profoundly altered, too, by laser cutting machines that work a range of materials from Plexiglas to wood. And now, moving from digital to physical only requires a click.
The students will be coached by Mauro Del Santo and Luca Frogheri.
Mauro is specialised in Product Design and Material Technology. Since he opened his design studio in Rome in 2003, he has developed furniture, products, lighting and installations for leading design companies. His most important clients include: IED, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Comune di Roma, Italian Ministry of Defense, Israeli Ministry of Defense, Selex, Sistema Compositi, UNHCR, Danish Refugee Councl, ENI and Hertz. His projects have received international recognitions, including: a nomination for the ADI Index, selections for the Red Dot Design Award, three nominations for Maker of Merit in 2014 and 2015. Mauro has designed and coordinated events for the Rome IED University and exhibits for Promisedesign. Since 2005, he teaches design, prototyping and materials technology at IED in Rome, Sapienza University and Nairobi University.
LUCA FROGHERI
A web designer, maker, communicator and trainer, Luca developed Project EyeWriter Italia that allows individuals with motor disabilities to communicate via the movement of their eyes. He has been teaching Interaction Design based on the Arduino environment for three years now and collaborates with laboratories, fab labs and companies throughout Italy on the development of interactive devices. Luca believes in open source philosophy, sharing and practical hands-on teaching. “I’m a maker,” he says. “I have always been curious and tried to do whatever interested me. It’s the best way of being oneself.
