There’s an odd moment – somewhere between doing a 360 degree full-body swivel whilst being scanned from head to toe, and when you witness a miniature version of yourself being squirted out by a printer – where you think, “Jesus, is my posture really that bad?” If such revelations hold no fear for you, then we’ve got a café that’s right up your alley… Dimension Alley, that is.
The future of the selfie is here, nestled unassumingly in Prenzlauer Berg, and predictably enough it’s 3D. Offering a variety of digital fabrication workshops that cater to children (upon request) and adult novices (€40), the world’s third “fab café” goes to great lengths to walk you through the potentially infinite applications of 3D printing: organic tissue, aeronautical engine parts, even entire buildings. Then, they give you the opportunity to design… a keychain. Yet the more techni- cally savvy can rock up with preconceived designs and bring them to life with the help of the outfit’s affable owners, examples of which can be seen around the workshop: the aforementioned mini-me (from €25), miniaturised landscapes, a Mars Rover and models of actual bone scans, to name but a few. Height and width were good while they lasted, but modern Berliners need something more: they need depth, and that’s exactly what this techno-caff is serving up, in viscous thermoplastic form.
Originally published in issue #130, September 2014.