Samantha Sherer

Objects that Create Community:

Effects of 3D Printing and Distributed Manufacturing Beyond Circular Economy

Consistent with principles of Regenerative Development, which positions all aspects of human communities in balance with their local ecosystems, this paper argues that Additive Manufacturing (AM) has potential to alter global economic and manufacturing landscapes. Informing my practice-led research with a review of relevant scholarship I demonstrate how the convergence of 3D Printing with the Maker Movement can generate Circular Economy by fostering ecological awareness of material composition and overconsumption. By folding informal economies into the mainstream thereby strengthening community bonds, AM increases socioeconomic sustainability and creates opportunities for intervention in critical societal issues and associated pressures on resource and waste management. By modeling usage of open-source AM technology in the Global North, I identify barriers to its dissemination as an appropriate technology in the Global South. I outline strategies to circumvent obstacles to the disruption of global consumerism by shifting from underperforming Sustainable Design principles towards restorative Regenerative Development.

 2018