Blog - Fab City Montréal

Manufacturing in cities

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-05-17T07:37:06-04:0010 March 2022|Fabrication|

With industrialization, and then globalization, most cities in North America and Europe have moved away from local manufacturing. This has resulted in a disconnect between making and citizens, much like the disconnect with nature, and the animals we eat. As a “consequence manufacturing only takes a little role in the urban life in European cities today, shifting the focus on services rather than production.” That’s a problem on multiple levels and there are good reasons to bring back more local manufacturing, not the least of which being resilience.

A methodical approach to the net-zero city

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-08-05T08:16:36-04:008 March 2022|Innovation|

Trying things out, observing the results, learning from them, adjusting, trying again. A loop of learning and progressions that can be used at all scales, from personal projects to… cities. In this case, Singapore uses such a methodical approach to becoming a net-zero city.

Regenerative needs to be the new sustainable

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-05-17T07:41:14-04:003 March 2022|Territoire|

When we hear the word “regenerative” for cities, the economy, or agriculture, it’s different from “sustainable” but too often said as if it were just the new, cooler version. As this piece at Matters Journal shows, it’s much more than a new word; regenerative needs to be the new sustainable because “we are already over or close to breaching many of the nine planetary boundaries being anxiously monitored by scientists around the globe. It means that doing no harm is no longer going to cut it.”

Sensors and antennas in smarter homes

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-05-17T07:42:34-04:001 March 2022|Innovation|

Yes, the word “smart” is definitely overused, especially for cities and buildings. When at all needed, the technology aspect should actually be there to make us smarter, collecting data to help in making better decisions. That being said, there are quite a few good ideas in the article another frontier for the digital revolution about “smart buildings.” Like printed sensors and antennas to monitor problems and failures.

Vehicles built in Fab Labs might be on the way

By Patrick Tanguay|2022-05-17T07:43:54-04:0024 February 2022|Mobility|

The question asked in the title of this article, Fab Labs Or Gigafactories? Or Both? might be a bit of a weird one, as it’s obviously not simply one or the other but rather a spectrum of solutions with these two at opposing ends. Still, a useful framing since there is the possibility, through innovative forms of organizations and licensing, to make complex products locally instead of making them exclusively in large factories.