Fab Labs: new hubs for socialization and innovation

The present paper focuses on the cultural value of making, identifying the methods for sharing the knowledge and the technical skills, particularly, in the context of digital design and fabrication. Starting from the renewed interest in manufacturing processes directly linked to creativity, sustainability, mass customization, practical innovation and experimentation, enhanced by the so called makers’ revolution and by the new arts and crafts movements, the paper explores the on going transformations in the manufacturing places focusing on the Fab Lab sites as new hubs for sharing knowledge and skills. The dissertation is supported by a practical experimentation, carried out by the authors, based on a co-design workshop and a proactive interdisciplinary activity addressed to identify the processes of social innovation involving both expert and not expert designers in the context of digital design and fabrication processes. As a result Bright Light, a small lamp, has been produced in order to finalize the co-design processes with a smart artefact.