Alessandra Fasoli | Kingston University, London (original) (raw)
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Papers by Alessandra Fasoli
The Design Journal
We are living in a moment of radical change. The environmental and economic crisis have been unde... more We are living in a moment of radical change. The environmental and economic crisis have been undermining the strength of democratic societies, causing, mainly in western communities, a widespread sense of alienation and insecurity. By the way, new social structures are emerging from bottom-up initiatives, as a response to the lack of good political practices. These actions often reveal themselves as strong creative think tanks; they play a key role in the decision-making process concerning commons and contribute to the definition of the community identity, by acting as connectors between both social and environmental factors. Founded in 2012 by a group of young people from different backgrounds, Roma Makers has been the first fab lab in Rome, Italy, and in the last four years, it has grown in terms of network and community. Started from scratch, with limited economic resources and during a peak of the Italian economic and political crisis, Roma Makers has been able to build a bridge between citizens and authorities, using the global innovation network as a mean to join different urban realities. With the direction of four public labs widespread among the Lazio Region, several mini-labs in public schools, the collaboration with trade associations, universities and high educational centers, together with the organisation of several technological events, Roma Makers has built an active infrastructure of knowledge focused on the empowerment of citizens in technological innovation and digital manufacturing. The infrastructure operates at different levels of society and creates a connection between professionals, students, hobbyists, urban associations, companies and institutions so that they can meet and share projects and ideas. This new layer of knowledge is expanding from a very local scale (the neighbourhood of Garbatella in Rome) to the Lazio Region area, and it allows local economies to be developed by giving access to innovative and advanced manufacturing machines and processes. In this system, a new role of design is emerging and changing the linear relationship client/designer/user with collaborative networks that generate an open knowledge repository, in which everyone is included and can contribute by finding the most suitable field to share one's skills. The knowledge ecosystem fosters the encounter between local know-how and innovation, creating new S3121 ALESSANDRA FASOLI, SILVIO TASSINARI markets and encouraging new economies. In 2015 Roma Makers has expanded by becoming an incubator for two start-ups that connect the infrastructure with two important economic sectors: design firms and arts, introducing digital manufacturing tools and networked design into the industry process. This scenario leads to a new concept of participatory design as a tool for an active engagement of individuals in the development of their communities. The current paper will analyse how the new collaborative design and production processes emerging from the Roma Makers Infrastructure is contributing to building a sustainable and inclusive social ecosystem. The research will highlight the peculiar urban context in which it develops and focuses on how a self-generating network of knowledge based on a peer-to-peer system can be a key agent to enhance civic engagement for urban development.
The democratisation of digital tools for manufacturing has opened a new window to the world of pr... more The democratisation of digital tools for manufacturing has opened a new window to the world of production, and is radically changing our approach and process to fabrication. This phenomenon is leading some radical changes on different levels, from the overtaking of the dualism global/local to the rise of new markets. One of the aspect that we will analyse in this research will be the high social response that this phenomenon has, and what kind of implication it has on the urban life and development, by analysing the Italian network Fab Lab Roma. Born as a non profit association under the name of Roma Makers, Fab Lab Roma is actually the more structured Italian network of fablabs inside an urban area. In four years, it has been growing around the city by becoming a urban infrastructure for digital prototyping and technological empowerment. Connected to the global Fab Lab Network, the Fab Lab Roma scales the principle of the Fab Foundation from the world to the metropolitan scale. A peculiar aspect of Fab Lab Roma is the strong connection it has established with the urban fabric from its concept: the first fab lab opened in the strategic popular neighbourhood Garbatella, and sensitively acting both in schools and in public events, it has become a relevant node for the Italian fablab community and the main advisor for the public laboratories opened by the current regional government.
Resumen/Abstract ¿Qué tipo de arquitectura surgiría, si desde el punto de partida están los recur... more Resumen/Abstract ¿Qué tipo de arquitectura surgiría, si desde el punto de partida están los recursos locales, por un lado y por el otro se encuentra el estudio minucioso de las funciones ambientales? Con la siguiente tesis se quiere verificar un método de trabajo capaz de integrar los materiales locales y los conocimientos globales. La elección de materiales naturales como tierra, bambú y madera como materiales de construcción, se debe tanto a su fácil accesibilidad y al bajo costo económico como a su fácil manejo por la comunidad local y su bajo impacto ambiental. La propuesta del Salón Comunal se introduce en el Plan de Desarrollo Local de Qotowincho, pueblo formado en los últimos años, ubicado al lado de la ciudad de Urubamba. El proyecto prevé la construcción de dos edificios con un foyer central en un terreno ubicado frente a la plaza mayor. Las soluciones tecnológicas han sido elegidas en base a dos temáticas principales: las técnicas antisísmicas y el confort habitacional. La estructura principal del primer piso estaría hecha con adobes modulares reforzados con sistemas diferentes: el sistema geomalla (desarrollado en la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) que consiste en envolver los muros desde la cimentación hasta el tope con una malla plástica y sujetarla con hilos de ichu, el segundo sistema es un refuerzo con cañas en el interior de los muros enclavadas en la cimentación y en la parte alta sujetadas a las vigas. La cimentación de concreto armado aportaría mayor estabilidad en caso de sismo. En el segundo piso las paredes serían en quincha con una estructura principal de madera. Para mejorar las condiciones ambientales en el interior del municipio, en este proyecto se utilizaría dos paneles, uno interno y otro externo, con un aislante natural en el medio según las investigaciones de la Universidad de Roma Tre.
The Design Journal
We are living in a moment of radical change. The environmental and economic crisis have been unde... more We are living in a moment of radical change. The environmental and economic crisis have been undermining the strength of democratic societies, causing, mainly in western communities, a widespread sense of alienation and insecurity. By the way, new social structures are emerging from bottom-up initiatives, as a response to the lack of good political practices. These actions often reveal themselves as strong creative think tanks; they play a key role in the decision-making process concerning commons and contribute to the definition of the community identity, by acting as connectors between both social and environmental factors. Founded in 2012 by a group of young people from different backgrounds, Roma Makers has been the first fab lab in Rome, Italy, and in the last four years, it has grown in terms of network and community. Started from scratch, with limited economic resources and during a peak of the Italian economic and political crisis, Roma Makers has been able to build a bridge between citizens and authorities, using the global innovation network as a mean to join different urban realities. With the direction of four public labs widespread among the Lazio Region, several mini-labs in public schools, the collaboration with trade associations, universities and high educational centers, together with the organisation of several technological events, Roma Makers has built an active infrastructure of knowledge focused on the empowerment of citizens in technological innovation and digital manufacturing. The infrastructure operates at different levels of society and creates a connection between professionals, students, hobbyists, urban associations, companies and institutions so that they can meet and share projects and ideas. This new layer of knowledge is expanding from a very local scale (the neighbourhood of Garbatella in Rome) to the Lazio Region area, and it allows local economies to be developed by giving access to innovative and advanced manufacturing machines and processes. In this system, a new role of design is emerging and changing the linear relationship client/designer/user with collaborative networks that generate an open knowledge repository, in which everyone is included and can contribute by finding the most suitable field to share one's skills. The knowledge ecosystem fosters the encounter between local know-how and innovation, creating new S3121 ALESSANDRA FASOLI, SILVIO TASSINARI markets and encouraging new economies. In 2015 Roma Makers has expanded by becoming an incubator for two start-ups that connect the infrastructure with two important economic sectors: design firms and arts, introducing digital manufacturing tools and networked design into the industry process. This scenario leads to a new concept of participatory design as a tool for an active engagement of individuals in the development of their communities. The current paper will analyse how the new collaborative design and production processes emerging from the Roma Makers Infrastructure is contributing to building a sustainable and inclusive social ecosystem. The research will highlight the peculiar urban context in which it develops and focuses on how a self-generating network of knowledge based on a peer-to-peer system can be a key agent to enhance civic engagement for urban development.
The democratisation of digital tools for manufacturing has opened a new window to the world of pr... more The democratisation of digital tools for manufacturing has opened a new window to the world of production, and is radically changing our approach and process to fabrication. This phenomenon is leading some radical changes on different levels, from the overtaking of the dualism global/local to the rise of new markets. One of the aspect that we will analyse in this research will be the high social response that this phenomenon has, and what kind of implication it has on the urban life and development, by analysing the Italian network Fab Lab Roma. Born as a non profit association under the name of Roma Makers, Fab Lab Roma is actually the more structured Italian network of fablabs inside an urban area. In four years, it has been growing around the city by becoming a urban infrastructure for digital prototyping and technological empowerment. Connected to the global Fab Lab Network, the Fab Lab Roma scales the principle of the Fab Foundation from the world to the metropolitan scale. A peculiar aspect of Fab Lab Roma is the strong connection it has established with the urban fabric from its concept: the first fab lab opened in the strategic popular neighbourhood Garbatella, and sensitively acting both in schools and in public events, it has become a relevant node for the Italian fablab community and the main advisor for the public laboratories opened by the current regional government.
Resumen/Abstract ¿Qué tipo de arquitectura surgiría, si desde el punto de partida están los recur... more Resumen/Abstract ¿Qué tipo de arquitectura surgiría, si desde el punto de partida están los recursos locales, por un lado y por el otro se encuentra el estudio minucioso de las funciones ambientales? Con la siguiente tesis se quiere verificar un método de trabajo capaz de integrar los materiales locales y los conocimientos globales. La elección de materiales naturales como tierra, bambú y madera como materiales de construcción, se debe tanto a su fácil accesibilidad y al bajo costo económico como a su fácil manejo por la comunidad local y su bajo impacto ambiental. La propuesta del Salón Comunal se introduce en el Plan de Desarrollo Local de Qotowincho, pueblo formado en los últimos años, ubicado al lado de la ciudad de Urubamba. El proyecto prevé la construcción de dos edificios con un foyer central en un terreno ubicado frente a la plaza mayor. Las soluciones tecnológicas han sido elegidas en base a dos temáticas principales: las técnicas antisísmicas y el confort habitacional. La estructura principal del primer piso estaría hecha con adobes modulares reforzados con sistemas diferentes: el sistema geomalla (desarrollado en la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) que consiste en envolver los muros desde la cimentación hasta el tope con una malla plástica y sujetarla con hilos de ichu, el segundo sistema es un refuerzo con cañas en el interior de los muros enclavadas en la cimentación y en la parte alta sujetadas a las vigas. La cimentación de concreto armado aportaría mayor estabilidad en caso de sismo. En el segundo piso las paredes serían en quincha con una estructura principal de madera. Para mejorar las condiciones ambientales en el interior del municipio, en este proyecto se utilizaría dos paneles, uno interno y otro externo, con un aislante natural en el medio según las investigaciones de la Universidad de Roma Tre.