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Coffee and 3D-printing, anyone?

SINGAPORE — Cafe-hopping over the weekend just got even more interesting with the newly opened FabCafe Singapore.

SINGAPORE — Cafe-hopping over the weekend just got even more interesting with the newly opened FabCafe Singapore.

The new spot at the ArtScience Museum does not simply offer the usual coffee and cake — although good food and brew can be had there as well — but laser cutting and 3D printing, too.

There, you can experiment with 3D printing, learn about the fabrication revolution that is taking the world by storm and even sample some laser-cut macarons.

“This museum is about the collision of art and science, and it is very much what we are about at FabCafe. It is about making technology accessible to everybody. We represent the maker movement, and it is about (encouraging) people to make things. For a long time, we had gotten used to buying everything off the shelves, now people are more interested in how things are being made and in learning how they can do it on their own,” Chris Drury, one of the founders of FabCafe Singapore, shared.

FabCafe started in Shibuya, Tokyo, with a large following of designers and has since expanded its presence around the world in cities such as Barcelona, Bangkok and Taipei. It makes its debut here with a fuss-free set-up with locally manufactured and designed furniture as well as a huge laser-cutting machine and rare resin and formlab 3D printers.

The cafe intends to actively engage visitors through organising activities for people of all ages, “not only the creative community (and) technology community but also families”, shared Brandon Berry Edwards, the special projects director. “The general public can learn about creativity and technology, and have good coffee,” he added.

Edwards helms the cafe with Drury, Wouter van Hest and Adeline Setiawan, who have cumulative experience in the fields of creativity, technology, and food and beverage.

Starting next weekend, FabCafe will be organising workshops for children aged nine and above, along with adults. There, they can discover the art of tessellations and stamp their own tessellation pattern on a tote bag that they get to keep. This programme is a tie-in with the newest exhibition at the ArtScience Museum, Journey to Infinity: Escher’s World of Wonder.

The retrospective exhibition covers the world of MC Escher, whose works illustrate the poetry and art of mathematics, as well as the science of architecture and design.

Comprising tessellations, physically impossible architectural constructions, optical illusions of gravity-defying and topsy-turvy worlds, the exhibition showcases Escher’s influence on popular culture, such as the hippies in the 1970s to major architects of our time such as Moshe Safdie, who designed the Marina Bay Sands development itself.

Visitors to the exhibition can continue to sate their curiosity about science and art at the FabCafe. As Drury shared: “I think there will be a huge curiosity factor. We are going to do very simple things like engraving macarons — and it sounds very basic, but it opens people’s eyes to what is actually available technology-wise.”

FabCafe is located at level one, ArtScience Museum, 6 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018974.

 

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