Q Life Magazine Q Magazine December 2018 | Page 32

| Issue 5 | Fab Lab in action and then printed it, first using plastic, and then using resin,’ says Garita, a Costa Rican architect specialising in digital fabrication and social innovation. ‘The designer was able to then discuss this with the client and customise the product, before beginning mass production. In this case they are going to cast it in gold, so they have to get the design right at the outset.’ Now with Fab Lab you can be a ‘pro-sumer’ – a producer and consumer combined. He says: ‘This is changing the economy. We need spaces where you can prototype an idea, get more precise information and fine-tune the design, and then bring this to on-demand production. 32 | A CGI of Al Rayyan stadium ‘Fab Lab is a call to action that turns us from the consumers of technology, through gaming and phones, to applying technology to turn us into producers. It is the fourth industrial revolution at work.’ This will result in more environmentally-friendly manufacturing, he believes. ‘You are making something for your needs, not taking something from the market that is pushing you to consume. Technology is just a tool, not the final goal – it will allow us to make customised products that will change the way we consume.’ The beauty of the Fab Lab concept is about more than technology, he says. ‘When you have a collaborative