Buenos Aires: NETI & the Netiatón the first collaborative design event.

Recently I’ve got the sensation that collaborative culture is blossoming everywhere and in the austral spring I found NETI acronyms for “No Está Todo Inventado” equal to “Not everything is invented” NETI is a maker space that puts together three pillars of development: academia, entrepreneurship and government. Located in Argentina, I think it has a unique opportunity of growth by jumping into the exponential industry of design.

Their founders Alejandro Repetto and Mara Provenzano took the time to explain to me that “NETI will provide the workplace and a set of industrial design equipment (both analogic and digital) under the spirit of co-design and co-making and the contact with investors, providers and other stakeholders of the design industry, building up an environment full of opportunities for young innovative designers”.

Their motto is “Come with an idea and left with a functional prototype”. No matter if the user is an expert industrial designer or a rookie hobbyist, NETI is meant for all kinds of doers that want their idea come true. They provide the hardware and the place, but the outstanding characteristic of NETI is the environment that it produces. They told me that already have investors interested on their users, potential project to develop, a big active online community full of enthusiastic doers waiting for them to start up.

Alejandro is very enthusiastic for the future of NETI and says “Right now we are looking for a proper place to start. Finding the first setup for NETI it’s not easy in such a big city like Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, in order to thanks the community for their support, we decide to close up the year doing what we know (and enjoy): build.”

On November the 30th they will do the NETIATON: the first massive make-a-thon of Buenos Aires. Through a massive on-line design process, carried on during November, the users brainstorm, select, adjust, and design two products that will be collaborative built on November 30th in the Club Cultural Matienzo, Pringle 1249, Buenos Aires. That day, the people who participated in the design process and everyone else who wants to live the NETI experience is invited to take a look to an amazing setup: doers, machines, ideas, fun and social impact put together in a single place, a single day.

In the NETIATON people will build an hydroponic 2.0 farm, thought for reduced places – ideally for a normal kitchen -, combining design, technology, and environmental awareness; and a brand new Argentinean Mate design focused in the concept of innovation on traditional products. Both will be released under Creative Commons license.