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Information and Registration available at http://www.diaworkshop.net

FABberz (www.fabberz.com) and LaN (www.livearchitecture.net) are collaborating to organize a series of workshops for students and other interested parties to be held in multiple locations each year, leading up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While digital production tools have been commercially available for some time, the accessibility to these technologies can now reach far beyond factories and warehouses to our classrooms and homes.

The workshop will focus on the social and infrastructural issues facing Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro as they prepare to host the international games. This investigation will set the stage for the development of student proposals. The 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics are catalysts with the potential to create unique opportunities for architectural innovation in South America. This scenario serves as a testing ground to sustainable digital manufacturing processes. DIA phase 1 will explore multiple fabrication techniques using laser cutting, including fabric forming and puzzle joinery. An introduction to these techniques will be followed by team development of customizable user interfaces and fabricated prototypes of different iterations of the proposals. Local residents will be invited to participate by customizing their own prototypes using the systems developed by students in the workshop.

The second part of the Rio workshop will consist of a competition aimed at the application of digital processes and fabrication on a given project brief. The winning team will receive scholarships to the Architectural Association Visiting School in Sao Paulo to be held July 2010.