The Maker Culture and the Open Source Model in the Architecture, Urbanism and Design Context: The Fabrication and Sharing of a Game for Design Teaching xxii congresso da sociedade Frederico Braida iberoamericana de gráfica digital 22th conference of the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora | Brazil | [email protected] iberoamerican society of digital graphics Icaro Chagas 07|08|09|novembro|2018 Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora | Brazil | [email protected] iau usp | são carlos | sp br Isabela Ruback Cascardo de Almeida Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora | Brazil | [email protected] Janaina Mendes de Castro Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora | Brazil | [email protected] Abstract This article aims to present a discussion about the maker culture and an experience of fabricating and sharing a set of building blocks designed as a didactic tool for teaching architectural design within the premises of do-it-yourself culture and an open source model. Methodologically, the article is the result of both a bibliographical research and an empirical research, from which, in contemporary times, is evidenced the strengthening of flexible, collaborative, creative and innovative processes, prevailing premises in the maker movement. Keywords: Maker culture; Open source; Teaching; Democratization; Digital culture. INTRODUCTION Thus, permeating the fields of human knowledge, the 1 theme of the maker culture, articulated with the issues of We are faced with a contemporary movement towards the the open source universe (Kera, 2017), has gained universalization of learning: the maker culture (Weiss, relevance in the era of digital culture. Also, in the fields of 2008; Mellis & Buechley, 2011; Ames et al., 2014), which Architecture, Urbanism and Design, this theme has been is based on the empowerment of individuals, above all in evidence, especially after the dissemination of digital from the stimulus to the creative making and access to manufacturing technologies and the extensive the content available on digital media, on the internet. implantation of fab labs. The idea behind the maker culture is to create and In this context, in the field of Education, whether formal or develop new products (concrete or digital ones), using informal, we have witnessed the democratization of various software or tools (especially digital), in open teaching-learning processes (Okada, 2017). Also in the spaces, workshops or laboratories (Anderson, 2012 in teaching of architecture, urbanism and design, several Schön, Ebner & Kumar, 2014). This movement involves initiatives that incorporate digital technologies and innovative, economically accessible forms of production, collaborative modes of production can be highlighted. and do-it-yourself (DIY) work, being considered by many authors as the fourth Industrial Revolution (Schwab, It is within this scenario that this paper is inserted. In this 2016). work, the results of a research in which an experiment of production and sharing of a set of blocks of assembly was One of the nine principles of the maker movement, conceived as a didactic tool for the teaching of according to Hatch (2016), is the sharing, which consists architecture project within the assumptions of the culture of dividing a product and its production instructions with of the make- yourself and an open source model. Thus, other makers, with the shared knowledge being the the main objective of this article is to present a case in greatest reward among the supporters of the movement. which the premises of the maker movement and the open This principle, along with the strong dissemination, along source platforms were fundamental for the development the years, of spaces for doing and learning - of a proposal that aims to contribute with a didactic makerspaces, fab labs (fabrication laboratory), material aimed at the formal phase of the Architecture and hackerspaces and others - reveals the strong influence of Urbanism design. the maker culture on the democratization of knowledge. Within this culture, open source orientation is valued and For this, the paper is structured in five sections. It begins fostered, which allows the appropriation and modification with some considerations on the maker culture and its of a technique, software or machinery for its distribution unfolding in the field of Architecture, Urbanism and Design and improvement (Pacini, Passaro & Henriques, 2017). in the contemporaneity. Next is presented the Although this movement is less than 20 years old, the development of the building block game called Archbricks, review of these events leads us to understand the impact which is about a result of a research financed by the State of the maker culture in contemporary societies; and it is Research Support Foundation FAPEMIG, in the scope of no wonder that many consider it as a revolution. The the LEAUD, from the Faculty of Architecture and expansion of sites that stimulate digital production and Urbanism of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (FAU- manufacturing, along with the sharing of all the knowledge UFJF). At the end, it is discussed how the game had its acquired by “doing”, amplifies the possibilities of scientific conception, production and distribution conceived from advancement, as well as being a new alternative to the the premises of the maker movement, contributing to the detriment of industrial overproduction, also supporting socialization of the open knowledge to the possibilities of sustainable development and, from a political point of collaboration, as well as some reflections ascending from view, nurturing access to information and knowledge. the critical analysis of the different phases of the research. MAKER CULTURE IN THE FIELD OF CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE MAKER ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM AND CULTURE DESIGN The maker culture can have its origin understood through If we understand Architecture, Urbanism and Design as a some significant events throughout history. The path between idea and materialization, it makes clear that emergence of fab labs, for example, came about from the the maker movement would find great possibilities of use great success of a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center of Bits and Athoms (CBA) in in these fields of knowledge and human acting. There, 2001. The initial idea was to teach a small group of perhaps, lies the main justification for the rapid expansion students to use the machinery of the CBA, however, such of fab labs, mainly those linked to higher education laboratory was equipped with digital manufacturing tools institutions, especially the schools of Architecture, and students were enthusiastic about the possibility of Urbanism and Design. producing objects for personal use. Inspired by the Nowadays, the physical models have returned to a great success of this first class in 2003, the CBA began an importance, since the direct communication existing extension project supported by the National Science between digital files and physical models (file-to-factory Foundation (Gershenfeld, 2012), which provided digital process) can be easily established (Dunn, 2012). In this and manual tools in a college space so that users could context, rapid prototyping, as well as digital fabrication, actually produce things, which come to be known as fab has been an important tool for testing and manufacturing lab. products, since, by generating physical models quickly, reduces the gap existing between a project and its The years that followed inaugurated the spread of fab labs execution. throughout the world, and the leasing of new facilities in 2 countries on all continents is impressive. In recent years, In our time, the Fab Foundation, linked to MIT, is the total number of fab labs has expanded considerably, associated with fab labs spread all over the world, many forming a network connected by the democratization of of them linked to the universities and colleges of production and knowledge, in favor of the maker Architecture, Urbanism and Design. In several movement (see https://www.fablabs.io/organizations). laboratories, there are architects and designers as the main enthusiasts. In 2005, a major magazine entitled MAKE (https://makezine.com/) was available in the United In a survey conducted in 2015 for the exhibition Homo States, which is published every two weeks and focuses Faber: Digital Fabrication in Latin America, 31 digital on projects involving computers, robotics, electronics and manufacturing laboratories were mapped out in Latin other areas (Schön, Ebner & Kumar, 2014). The America. Of this total, 22 laboratories were concentrated magazine organized the first Maker Faire in San Mateo in in universities and academic research institutions 2006, where exhibitors displayed artifacts produced by (Sperling et al., 2015). At the time, in Brazil, there were 22 themselves, which occurs annually to this day. At the laboratories, of which 14 were linked to the MIT Fab and same time, in the same year, the first commercial Rhino Fab networks. makerspace was inaugurated, TechShop (whose company went bankrupt February 26, 2018, see In 2017, Brazil had 58 spaces that were called http://www.techshop.ws), a studio equipped with digital makerspaces, fab labs or digital manufacturing manufacturing tools, such as such as 3D printers, laser laboratories, which were distributed in 24 cities (Costa & cutters, vinyl plotters and computer aided design (CAD) Pelegrini, 2017). Among those, many were linked to the software,