Welcome to the FarmLab, a rural creative hub where sustainability meets innovation.

The FarmLab

Located on a small farm in the scenic countryside of Southeast Styria, Austria, FarmLab blends traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge digital fabrication to explore new paths toward a regenerative future.

Vision

FarmLab is a rural creative hub for learning, innovation, and exchange—connecting sustainability, nature conservation, traditional crafts, and digital tools.

We foster a culture of creativity and collaboration, empowering individuals to explore new ideas and develop practical skills.

We envision a future where circular economy principles and the creative use of local (zero km) resources guide how we live, make, and share.

By bridging global craft traditions with advanced digital technologies, we aim to inspire new approaches to working with natural materials—such as wool, willow, wood, clay, and leather—while strengthening the bond between people and the land.

Mission

Our mission is to explore the intersection of nature, technology, and craft. We provide knowledge, tools, and networks that empower people to experiment, learn, and create solutions for a sustainable future.

Through interdisciplinary work at the crossroads of science, technology, and art (STEM+Arts), we promote a holistic approach to innovation—where ancestral knowledge meets cutting-edge fabrication, and where nature-based solutions guide the responsible use of technology.

Person in protective gear pouring dark liquid into a large green barrel outdoors in a garden.

What we explore

Rural activation through culture and creativity
We explore how culture and creativity can become catalysts for rural regeneration. Through residencies, open days, and collaborations, we prototype cultural formats that strengthen the local and international community.

Reviving crafts with digital tools
We bridge hand skills with contemporary fabrication tools such as CNC, 3D printing, and laser cutting to reinterpret traditional crafts. We open new aesthetic and functional possibilities rooted in local knowledge.

Innovative and sustainable agriculture
On our working micro-farm, we experiment with biodiversity-positive and climate-resilient practices such as agroecology, agroforestry, and circular farming systems. These small-scale experiments generate learnings we share through workshops and international networks.

Circular making
We design low-waste material cycles that link digital and traditional fabrication with local resources. Our research spans from bioplastics to wool and natural dyes exploring repair, reuse, and the creation of circular value chains.

Design for multispecies coexistence
We approach design as a practice of coexistence. Our projects integrate seasonal rhythms, habitats, and non-human life into the making process, seeking new ways for humans, animals, and ecosystems to thrive together in rural landscapes.

Applied sustainability in rural contexts
FarmLab functions as a testing ground for regenerative living, learning, and production. We turn ideas into tangible prototypes through workshops, peer learning, and hands-on experimentation — translating sustainability into everyday practice.

What we do

  • Two adults and two children holding up blue tie-dye shirts against a wooden door with ivy overhead.

    Workshops and Experiences

    We offer creative workshops and experiences for adults and young people on digital fabrication, traditional crafts and the mix between them.

    Contact
  • research on Obvara Raku Ceramic by Silvia Brandi at the FarmLab

    Research and Artistic Residencies

    We host research and artistic residencies for local and international profiles.

    New opportunities out in Autumn '25!
  • a group of people listening to an explanation in a wooden room under construction

    EU Funded Research Projects

    The FarmLab participates in EU funded research projects focused on its areas of interest (wool and textile innovation, digital fabrication and traditional crafts, technology and land management, among others).

    Contact
The clay pieces that @eugeniobettucchi 3D-printed during his residency at @farmlab.at underwent a radical transformation through Obvara firing, guided by the FarmLab team’s expertise. After a first bisque firing and a second wood-fired raku fi
During his summer residency at the FarmLab @eugeniobettucchi, from the Italian design studio @oficina.space, explored the potential of 3D-printed clay inspired by the local context. Using a WASP clay 3D printer, Eugenio shaped parametric structures
A sneak peek of the raku works that the FarmLab will present tomorrow at the @fehringer_samstagsmarkt as part of the wonderful @fadenkollektiv 💫 Come to say hi, purchase a piece and discover the creations of @imachtenstock @suleattems @carinasammer
Exciting things happening this August: we will be welcoming @eugeniobettucchi to the @farmlab.at for a new residency, exploring the intersection of computational design and traditional craft. A civil engineer and expert in digital fabrication, Euge
During her @farmlab.at residency, Barbara @art.raba engaged with the FarmLab indigo, the Japanese Persicaria tintoria. Unlike other natural dyes, indigo involves no heat. Its transformation takes place in the vat, where the previously extracted pig
As part of her residency at the @FarmLab.at, Barbara @art.raba foraged dandelions, daffodils, mistletoe and other wild plants to create a palette of natural colours — an attempt to capture the chromatic fingerprint of the land. In her fearless
During her Spring residency at the @farmlab.at , designer and researcher @art.raba deepened the material explorations she began during her @fabricademy final project in Barcelona — this time with her hands in local soil. Using wheat grains sou
Yesterday we joined a beautiful workshop on cuttlefish bone casting as part of the Zwischenland event "Pfade und Wegweiser", curated by @zwischenland .⁠ ⁠ Led by @noahlayr, the session introduced us to one of the oldest known metal casting
Less talk more action! The @fab25.cz gave us another little present: the visit of Ferdi at the FarmLab. Ferdi was the local instructor when Martin took the Fab Academy program in 2015 at the @fablabbcn, and since then he remains a friend - who we se
Attending @fab25.cz as a family was intense, chaotic, beautiful — and deeply meaningful. Balancing talks, workshops, trains and nap times wasn't easy, but sharing this world with our daughters felt so right. When our firstborn was just 3 month
One of the most beautiful things about the maker world is the people in it. At @fab25.cz we reconnected with old friends from all over the globe and made new ones who left us inspired and full of ideas. This community keeps reminding us that collabo
@fab25.cz — what an incredible 8-day journey! We’re back home, exhausted and grateful after this intense adventure across Brno, the Maker Train, and Prague — a truly unique gathering of makers and FabLabs from around the world. We
Noir Feu is the outcome of @nalba.ig’s 2025 residency at @farmlab.at, developed by Capucine Robert @capucinerobert and Lavinia GHIMBASAN @lavinia_ghimbasan as a cross-national collaboration rooted in bioregional design. During their time in th
Felting, felting, felting... After days of carding wool, @nalba.ig — the design duo formed by @lavinia_ghimbasan and @capucinerobert — moved on to the slow, physical, and immersive process of wet felting during their residency at @farmlab

Follow our journey