It is not exactly open design, i.e. detailed designs of finished objects freely published online for end users or designers. This form of open design is achieved via the world of FabLabs, public construction laboratories with machinery for 3D printing, CNC cutting and other construction phases, where designers create digital models. Design for Download is a production-chain project that covers everything from the furniture design to its production and distribution and creates a network of professionals and user involvement right from the product configuration stage.
EventArchitectuur and Minale-Maeda developed the first open systems for Design for Download, which allow the production of storage furniture, wardrobes, tables and seating with variable configurations. Users can shape and personalise their own furnishings with intuitive 3D modelling parametric programs. The design file is then sent to a network of local manufacturers and suppliers, who produce the finished object using numerical control machinery. The process is made possible by simple system assembly and the choice of materials, mostly natural wood which can be chosen and sourced locally. Simplicity does not mean just "low-tech" but simplified construction phases and components. For example, the pieces in EventArchitectuur's Box-o-rama and Façades & functions systems in Minale-Maeda's Inside-out fit together without glue or are held together just by nails.
As in open design, the end object is no longer the work of one person but the result of shared genius and different expertises. The user plays a curatorial and decisional role because objects are made to measure and 'to fit'.
Valentina Croci
