On Digital Manufacturing LaboratoryIntroducing the Comprehensive Laboratory of Applied Sciences of the University of Art

Benefiting digital fabrication technologies in architectural education is a recent and rapidly evolving phenomenon. Digital fabrication labs not, common in standard architectural education curriculums until recently, are nowadays widespread in architectural schools. Although the first two experimental applications of digital fabrication, including ”prototyping“ and ”modeling“, have been developed exclusively in laboratories that existed in the faculties of mechanical engineering, since the late 1990s, a new type of laboratory has been established and dedicated to these activities in most of the world-leading architectural schools. These laboratories were called ”Rapid Prototyping Laboratories“ at first and then renamed to ”Digital Fabrication Laboratories“. Due to the growing popularity of the new generation of laboratories in the faculties of architecture, and the need to familiarize and promote these technological and educational environments, considering the growing and evolving needs of the construction industry, this article introduces ”Comprehensive Laboratory of Applied Sciences“ in the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design at the Tehran University of Art.