FAB FEST ’17 - International Fabrication Festival

FAB FEST is an International Fabrication Festival held at the University of Westminster in Central London. The festival is a unique pedagogic and social project, combining creative architectural design with innovative digital fabrication methods using lightweight, recyclable materials. It was introduced in 2016 and developed and repeated in the Summer of 2017. The festivals involved 50 teams of five or more students from across the UK and around the world including participants from India, China, USA, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy. Teams worked together over a four-month period to develop a design for a habitable pavilion. Groups combined students, professionals in practice acting as design mentors, as well as staff from the University’s Fabrication Lab, advising on materials and digital fabrication processes. Following a series of design stages teams submitted their proposals to be digitally fabricated using CNC knives, lasers and robotic arms. In the week of the festival teams then worked together to assemble and install their pre-fabricated pavilions, collectively creating the architecture for a large-scale public event. Building and celebration took place in Ambika P3 - a 14,000 square ft space in Central London developed from the University’s former concrete construction hall. The project ended in a three-day celebration with live music and making-based events for visitors and the local community.