Pilot 4
Onl'fait (Switzerland)
MANUFACTURING
GENEVA,
SWITZERLAND
About Onl'fait
Onl’fait is an open Fab Lab that offers technical, technological and human resources for digital craftsmanship. It provides professional and amateur craftspeople with the necessary tools for repairing, creating, developing and conceiving a prototype of product, supporting circularity in the economy and embedding crafts skills in the urban fabric. Onl’fait shares its site with a large community of craftspeople working with traditional techniques, offering the potential for bringing together and mutually informing traditional techniques and digital fabrication.
Bridging the Gap
Led by Onl’fait, a Fab Lab based in Geneva (Switzerland), the Bridging the Gap pilot brought together digital fabrication and traditional craft knowledge, with a primary focus on woodworking. It fostered innovation by integrating digital technologies into artisanal processes and the creative industries, aiming to map Geneva’s craft ecosystem and provide craftspeople with pathways for digital and circular transitions.
The pilot maintained its ambition to deliver programming around digital fabrication, the circular economy, and traditional craft knowledge (TCK), while also contributing to local government efforts supporting vocational training, sustainable manufacturing and the regional economy. Sustainability, circular principles, and open-source tools remained central, ensuring the archiving and accessibility of traditional know-how.
Through the development of vocation training workshops, an accelerator program, a public exhibition and an upcycling innovation challenge, Bridging the Gap successfully raised visibility and recognition of Geneva’s craft ecosystem and its societal value.
Activities
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Experiment with different learning formats to support craftspeople to think and work in a transdisciplinary way
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Collaboration with local stakeholders in the economic sector to launch a program supporting new crafts in the Geneva region
Results
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Build bridges between traditional techniques in woodworking and digital fabrication
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Develop concepts such as circular economy, digital craftsmanship, distributed design, open source and open hardware, heritage and urban manufacturing, waste, repair, and prototyping.
Impact
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A hybrid mentorship system will be offered and tested, in which different models cross-pollinate and local industries, new artisans and vocational schools are bridged.
TIMELINE
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March - October 2026
Re:Make Design Project!
Onl’fait is joining forces with the local actors Hiflow and Renfile to launch Re:Make, a project that revitalizes reclaimed objects through design. By bringing together artisans, creatives, and stakeholders in the circular economy, Re:Make embodies an approach to innovation firmly rooted in commitment to a shared mission: giving objects a second life by transforming them through upcycling. 12 designers have been selected and will now upcycle products from the next door second hand shop and then use the Makerlab to design and prototype new solutions that will be exhibited in the next Hi-Flow exhibition entitled “Design@Work”.
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An exhibition at the Association du Patrimoine Industriel (API) presenting the Swiss chalet as a heritage symbol. The exhibition explores construction techniques, cultural narratives (folklore and symbolism), contemporary interpretations, and sustainable futures. In addition to the real chalet in the museum courtyard, the exhibition features discussions with local craftspeople, architects, and heritage organisations.
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September 2024
Onl’fait welcomed a diverse group of participants to the AXEL programme - a three-month acceleration programme for craftspeople and individuals with innovative craft-based projects. It offered mentorship in business development, digital fabrication training (via Onl’fait), and strategic planning support (via Fondetec), with a strong focus on sustainability and circular economy principles. Participants integrated digital fabrication into their work to optimise processes or explore new creative directions.
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October - December 2023
Two rounds of a makerspace programme designed for vocational schools were delivered in partnership with the For Pro Foundation. Dedicated to vocational students and young people disengaged from formal education, the programme explored crafts, digitalisation, and circularity as vocational pathways, providing hands-on experience in digital fabrication. The initiative demonstrated how combining traditional crafts with digital tools can motivate young people to explore future career opportunities.