Last Tuesday, 25th October,  we hosted a Protein Forum that explored The Future of Making.

With the 3D print revolution quickly gaining traction, spurred on by creative technologists, DIYers and hardware hackers, it’s now cheaper and easier than ever to rapidly prototype a three-dimensional object from a computer. It’s even changing retail: the first 3D print store, created by Makerbot, has just opened in New York. So its seems 3D Printing is finally here. But for the Forum we wanted to look further forward – once the technology is adopted by mass consumers – and explore if the consequences of 3D printing are set to be even more profound.  Around 70 people came down to enjoy some beer, and gain some inspiration from our three expert speakers.

First up was Matthew Plummer-Fernandez, a designer and artist concerned with digital process, code, emerging 3D technologies and techno-populist, open-source approaches to culture.  For the forum he presented his latest project, Digital Natives, an exploration into digital aesthetics and the latest consumer technologies in 3D printing. Next up was Paul Smyth of design agency Something & Son who discussed their 3D Print Lab, a platform for bringing 3D Printing technology out of the laboratory and into the community. Paul presented some of their more recent projects, including the 'Bring and Fix it' workshop, and their latest 3D printed infographic sculpture.  Finally, Caroline Till, co-found of design agency FranklinTilll and Course Director at Textile Futures at Central Saint Martins gave an overview into the 3D Printing research field, and explored some of the projects from her students and peers.

After the presentations, a panel discussion with some thought-provoking questions from the audience created an inspiring dialogue about the consumer applications of 3D Printing. We even had our very own 3D Printer in house courtesy of Precision Wax.

The audio from the event will be up next week on our Forum page so click to have a listen to the speakers presentations. And stay peeled to the Feed for information about our next event.