Special Prize

Founding member of FabCafe, President and CEO of Hidakuma

Kotaro Iwaoka

FabCafe was created with the expectation that it would be a place to empower anyone to turn their small idea into a reality by opening up access to new fabrication methods and tools to people who normally would not be involved in the process of making. In this way, FabCafe hoped to become a catalyst for ideas to grow in unexpected and wonderful directions so that everyone could experience the power of making.

Since the start of FabCafe, I have attempted to break down the thresholds and barriers to entry that FabCafe was supposed to have eliminated, but the reluctance to take the first step certainly still exists. I have been told that the concept of FabCafe seems complex and its mission difficult to understand. But whenever I hear people say things like, “At FabCafe, you have to make something amazing so that everyone will recognize your efforts”, I can’t help but think, “No, it’s not like that!”

Each FabCafe is tied to its location, and even the first FabCafe, FabCafe Tokyo (which only later added “Tokyo” when FabCafe Taipei opened), was just a point in a wide world, rooted in one region. In order to increase the number and diversity of people who can physically access this community, FabCafes have been created in various locations worldwide.

The YouFab Global Creative Awards (“YouFab”)* also started with the objective of helping creators realize the value of their everyday endeavors and projects. Since its foundation, YouFab has served as a platform that can be accessed from all over the world, both where FabCafe is and is not located.

Even so, I continue to hear people express their hesitance to take their first step to make something.

I believe the activities and works that come to life through FabCafe are all truly extraordinary. However, rather than the final result, what FabCafe really wants to pay tribute to is the fact that someone has taken action on their own, and has garnered the courage to express it.

For the crQlr Awards 2022 Special Prize, FabCafe would like to place the spotlight on the creators who have boldly undertaken a “bottom-up action” in an attempt to solve a problem in their own community. By applying for the crQlr Awards, you can gain the support of new peers that will empower your project. In turn, your initiative may serve as inspiration for others around the globe, thus becoming a new link in a chain of mutual encouragement. It does not matter how big or small your community is: even a small village is a large enough society for the people who live there. Through the crQlr 2022 Awards, we want to better connect these local creators to their next-door communities, which we hope will eventually lead to the creation of an even greater circular society.