Potentials of fablabs for biomimetic architectural research

Abstract

A fablab, with its set of different tools and machines for digital fabrication, as well as with the people with various expertise who work in there, is a perfect environment for inter- and multidisciplinary connections and research. More and more fablabs are including the biology i.e. wet-lab components giving opportunity for various phenomena to be investigated from different perspectives, one from the biological point of view and the other from e.g. architectural. Biomimicry in architecture is an innovative concept of using organic forms found in nature as architectural solutions. Taking into account that such forms are difficult to produce in 3D without the tools of digital fabrication, present in a fablab, the authors postulate that the fablab (or more precisely a biofablab) can be efficiently utilized as a lab for biomimicry architecture research.