YouFab Global Creative Awards
2015 Winners

We are thrilled to announce the 25 winners of the YouFab Global Creative Awards 2015.
The winners were selected from 152 works from 26 countries.

The winning works will be displayed at FabCafe Tokyo from January 23rd to February 8th, 2016.

GRAND PRIZE

Kinematics Dress

Kinematics Dress

By nervous system(United States)

Composed of thousands of unique interlocking components, each dress is 3D printed as a single folded piece and requires no assembly. The Kinematics Dress represents a new approach to manufacturing which tightly integrates design, simulation, and digital fabrication to create complex, customized products.

FIRST PRIZE

Making Gestures: A personal Design and Fabrication system

Making Gestures: A personal Design and Fabrication system

By Diego Pinochet(Chile)

‘Making Gestures: a personal fabrication and deign system' is proposed to explore real-time interaction between mind, body, and tools by using body gestures and imbuing fabrication machines with artificial intelligence. It's A 5-axis CNC machine developed and programmed using machine learning algorithms, in order to learn and adapt to the uniqueness of the user. 'Making Gestures' is a cybernetic system that allows to design and make in real time, adapting 'as you go'.

JUDGES, COMMENTS

  • Luki Huber

    Hiroya Tanaka

    SFC associate professor /
    FabLab Japan Founder

    I had written that the judges hoped to see entries that were less than ordinary and that really showcased that they were made with 3D printers and laser cutters, but the entries that we have seen have blown all my expectations out of the water! Here are some of my thoughts after completing the judging.


    1. The allure of Fab is that it brings difference things together and mixes them or throws them together, and through the medium of Fab unexpected things (things that you usually wouldn’t see together or complete opposites or contradictory objects) are brought together and that is what makes it interesting. We have wrestled with the contradictions and channeled them into another dimension, almost like a holistic power of parts, and I think it is that leap of expression where we find the spotlight on creativity.


    2. With Fab, in order to create new expressions, we should not [MS1] separate the actual practice of design from the technology R&D side of things, and because of this I believe that small design engineering firms that employ an array of professionals in varying fields will play a greater role in the Fab process moving forward. I think that the future of Fab lies in the creativity of small team, and not in the hands of large firms or individual creators. Incidentally, I think that [MS2] FabLabs or other Fab facilities no longer represent a place to use fab machines, but are a place to search for team members to work with.


    3. The starting line for Fab is often an experiment. And for the project to take off, there needs to be some kind of poeticism or storytelling behind it. This is not the kind of fictitious story concocted by advertising agencies, but a story that spontaneously develops as the project unfolds or that flows out from within the project itself. I believe that these original and true-life stories (the behind the scenes stories) are what lie at the core of Fab. The work we are doing over at http://fabble.cc/ also is driven by a similar interest.


    The above-mentioned points deeply reflect my take on Fab, but I also think these points demonstrate how Fab is different from the way we have created in general and produced works of art to date. I hope that we can continue to move beyond the desire to just make something or to just use digital fabrication tools to pursue Fab that delves deeply into the meaning and significance of things like we have seen here.

  • Luke Yeung

    Yukiko Shikata

    Creative Curator

    Fab is like a testing ground that goes beyond corporations and individuals but also brings together art, design, craft, science and technology, industries and academia. It is also safe to say that we are moving toward a future where the spirit of the Fab movement—anyone can be a hacker—lives on. This year, the level and quality of the entries have been less outstanding compared to last year. For the judging, we were pretty much in agreement about the Grand Prize and First Prize, but we were not unanimous about the remaining finalists. As a result, there are four entries being awarded with Judges’ Special Prize this year, and this also is a reflection of the diversity of entries we have seen. Many of the winning entries are from the Machine category this year (including MESH. I also liked the FLUX All-in-one 3D Printer), and in the Art category there were only a few entries that demonstrated outstanding technology as well as potential to expand on the concept or practical applications (of the entries, some of the more unique projects included Knit the Town and Artifacts). As the Fab scene continues to expand, I hope that the spirit of Fab is not internalized or does not become something that we no longer consciously think about.

  • Luki Huber

    Seiichi Saito

    Rhizomatiks /
    Creative&Technical Director

    I have had the honor of being a judge for YouFab for the last two years and I have been noticing this year that so many things have[MS3] changed in the field of Fab. I think last year we saw the emergence of new components and materials being used in novel ways to make innovative new artworks and products. In 2015, we are seeing these new method of creating taken to a new level when people think about how to use objects effectively or how they can incorporate things into their daily lives, and it is not just about being new. I also see people thinking about how they can make new things using one method from the various Fab technologies available. I think we can see these trends in our entries this year. I can feel the energy and potential that is being created from people spending many hours focusing on one method alone and really getting to know every in and out of it. This year I was a judge again, but I would once again like to return to my roots as an individual creator and try my hand at making something with everyone around the world.

  • Luke Yeung

    Luki Huber

    Product designer

    Thank you to YouFab Global Creative Awards and all its participants for letting me get to know so many interesting projects. Congratulations to all of you. This edition of YouFab 2015 has gathered a wide array of greatly varied projects. The key to the special interest of this contest is probably that precise aspect. Exposing artistic and technical projects on the same platform helps to understand that, in the future, different professional disciplines will be mixed together even more. In this respect, I will recommend to each participant that they review the results of the other participants in order to seek alliances in for future possible projects. The YouFab 2015 is over, but we will all continue to project, and aside from the authors of awarded projects each attendant who finds new projects and allies thanks to his or her participation in YouFab 2015 will have won a very valuable prize.

  • Luke Yeung

    Luke Yeung

    Principal of Architectkidd

    Is this the year that 3D-printed fashion has finally arrived? Judging by the number of submissions received in this year's YouFab competition that would be a resounding yes. From automated textile machines to custom jewellery and hacked accessories, there was no shortage of new ideas that fused design, technology and fashion in imaginative and creative ways. Rather than trying to re-invent the wheel however, the highest quality projects stood out with their levels of sophistication and refinement. Perhaps this is inevitable as the technologies and tools themselves are now maturing. But it also makes a strong case to look more into fashion, visual arts, architecture and related design fields, where the use of incremental innovation and iterative processes are still being used to achieve thought-provoking, highly usable and ultimately remarkable results.

  • Seiichi Saito

    Quake Hsu

    Co-founder of Zeczec

    YouFab Global Creative Awards 2015 gathers many excellent ideas and creations. Along the evolution of digital fabrication technology in the last few years, we can find more entries, comparing to previous competitions, trying to explore the application of digital fabrication in practical use. It is like one further step forward to the dream of new industrial revolution.

    On the other hand, there are also many art oriental entries exploring the opposite side of technology. Unlike praising the precision, efficiency and accuracy of the machine, these candidates are more interested in the flaws, accidents, and humanity. They involved a lot of non-machine characters into their digital fabrication works, and successfully built a wide range of true machine art pieces.

    I am deeply impressed by the variety and well-development of entries. Congratulations for the winners and the finalists. Look forward to the fun future with all Fabbers!

  • Luke Yeung

    Yukiko Shikata

    Creative Curator

    Fab is like a testing ground that goes beyond corporations and individuals but also brings together art, design, craft, science and technology, industries and academia. It is also safe to say that we are moving toward a future where the spirit of the Fab movement—anyone can be a hacker—lives on. This year, the level and quality of the entries have been less outstanding compared to last year. For the judging, we were pretty much in agreement about the Grand Prize and First Prize, but we were not unanimous about the remaining finalists. As a result, there are four entries being awarded with Judges’ Special Prize this year, and this also is a reflection of the diversity of entries we have seen. Many of the winning entries are from the Machine category this year (including MESH. I also liked the FLUX All-in-one 3D Printer), and in the Art category there were only a few entries that demonstrated outstanding technology as well as potential to expand on the concept or practical applications (of the entries, some of the more unique projects included Knit the Town and Artifacts). As the Fab scene continues to expand, I hope that the spirit of Fab is not internalized or does not become something that we no longer consciously think about.

  • Luke Yeung

    Luki Huber

    Product designer

    Thank you to YouFab Global Creative Awards and all its participants for letting me get to know so many interesting projects. Congratulations to all of you. This edition of YouFab 2015 has gathered a wide array of greatly varied projects. The key to the special interest of this contest is probably that precise aspect. Exposing artistic and technical projects on the same platform helps to understand that, in the future, different professional disciplines will be mixed together even more. In this respect, I will recommend to each participant that they review the results of the other participants in order to seek alliances in for future possible projects. The YouFab 2015 is over, but we will all continue to project, and aside from the authors of awarded projects each attendant who finds new projects and allies thanks to his or her participation in YouFab 2015 will have won a very valuable prize.

  • Seiichi Saito

    Quake Hsu

    Co-founder of Zeczec

    YouFab Global Creative Awards 2015 gathers many excellent ideas and creations. Along the evolution of digital fabrication technology in the last few years, we can find more entries, comparing to previous competitions, trying to explore the application of digital fabrication in practical use. It is like one further step forward to the dream of new industrial revolution.

    On the other hand, there are also many art oriental entries exploring the opposite side of technology. Unlike praising the precision, efficiency and accuracy of the machine, these candidates are more interested in the flaws, accidents, and humanity. They involved a lot of non-machine characters into their digital fabrication works, and successfully built a wide range of true machine art pieces.

    I am deeply impressed by the variety and well-development of entries. Congratulations for the winners and the finalists. Look forward to the fun future with all Fabbers!

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