Blog - Fab City Montréal

The Fabricademy Bootcamp mixes technology and craftsmanship

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-08-22T09:59:22-04:0028 July 2022|Fabrication|

The “fab” in Fab City originally comes from “fabrication” and Fablabs. These labs, initially constructed around technology and tools of local fabrication, are also being applied to other fields with intriguing results. The Fabricademy, founded by Anastasia Pistofidou (who’s also co-founder of Fablab Textiles and research leader at IAAC, Fab Lab Barcelona) is a shining example of applying fabrication technologies alongside the principles and ideals of transparency, open-source access and sharing knowledge, and influencing older practices of craftsmanship.

Looking further afield 2

By Patrick Tanguay|2025-05-26T04:20:32-04:0026 July 2022|Cities|

The second edition of Further afield, where we look at some ideas that are perhaps a bit further afield than our usual focus but that can inform our thinking on cities from a broader perspective.

Pop-up social infrastructure

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-08-22T10:23:52-04:0021 July 2022|Cities|

Pop-up spaces are not a new thing (even the article we’re linking to is two+ years old), but few are well done, fewer still are not incubating retail spaces, but it’s even more unique to find a group that does multiple projects over a few years. That’s what the CultureHouse have been doing, turning pop-up spaces into social infrastructure.

The theft of the commons

By Patrick Tanguay|2025-05-26T04:20:18-04:0019 July 2022|Economy|

We’ve written about the commons a few times in the past, and this piece by Eula Biss is probably the best one. Although not directly related to cities, since she looks at the more traditional agricultural village-based commons, it’s an excellent explanation of the concept and its history, extremely useful as background for any discussion about other forms of commons.

The ‘world’s first library farm’

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-08-22T10:43:48-04:0014 July 2022|Agriculture|

Some great things just go together, even if sometimes it takes a while before someone has the idea of trying the combination. That’s what Meg Backus, at the time Northern Onondaga Public Library’s (NOPL) adult programming director and public relations coordinator, proved. Backus saw empty land across the street from the library and pitched the idea of setting up a garden on the library’s land. Soon enough, 40 members were bringing “their own water, seeds, seedlings, and other growing provisions to investigate whether that land could produce.”