“Don’t take the world as it is.” Since 1994, Waag Society foundation has been an institute mixing technology, art, education and social good, giving people access to technologies. And the Fab Lab was another way to follow their mission.
It started as a project in 2007 at Pakhuis de Zwijger and joined the fondation’s building after the Fab6 conference in 2008 (the first FabConference outside MIT, in Boston). Meanwhile, Alex Schaub (the first fabmanager) completed the FabAcademy program to learn to use all the technologies. It was both meant for their own research/projects and the general public (artists, researchers, designers, kids, students, teachers, creative people, etc.).
In their eyes, the Fab Lab is a great tool to work at the intersection between craftsmanship heritage and technologies, to keep them alive and spread both through digital fabrication. “Like Alex’s metal work, our health and care projects, the artsy side of Waag Society, let’s mix everything and make it accessible!”
Today, “the main aim is still the same, but the social impact is wider than we thought, with empowering others, giving the technologies accessible, for whatever project and public.”