n 2012, Domus Magazine organized the Autoprogettazione 2.0 Competition. It was a contemporary, digital tribute to Enzo Mari’s iconic, polemical 1974 DIY furniture series. Well aware that our design concepts and ambitions for AtFAB furniture picked up where Mari left off, we thought it only appropriate to submit an entry. We curated a selection of pieces from our larger collection of designs, and refined the designs and cut files for 6 pieces.

 5-to-30 Minute Chair   One to Several Table Open Storage Cabinet    Rotational Table       Ninety Minute Chair      Cat in Bag ii Table  

Autoprogettazione was a political project of its time. It positioned self-sufficiency and making as an alternative to the prevailing forces of consumer capitalism. Today, we’d argue that enabling makers with self-sufficiency remains an important endeavor for an equitable and democratic society. Moreover, it offers an alternative to today’s centralized factory. By making locally, we can all support our local economies and communities, while eliminating the energy-intensive waste of shipping goods around the globe.

e share Mari’s aspirations for utility, delight, and empowerment through making. We had originally designed AtFAB for anyone, anywhere – using digital tools to customize and fabricate a piece of furniture. The competition in effect allowed us to fully explore customization, and to expand the project into interaction design. In order to develop each furniture piece, we made demonstration versions of parametric customization applets, using Processing. These applets show how it’s possible to put the functionality of powerful, interactive CAD tools into the hands of anyone. Once a maker tailors the size, material, machine specs, and other details of a design, they can then download their custom DXF file, and locally fabricate their piece.

In our recent book, Make: Design for CNC, we wrote in depth about parametric design. In addition, we created detailed tutorials on using applets to make our most popular pieces. As a result, you can find updated and refined applets for the One to Several Table and Open Storage Cabinet online.

 Make: Design for CNC – Furniture Projects and Fabrication Technique