Buinho opened in 2015 as a FabLab. Today it runs several labs in several houses of Messejana's historic centre, each with its own machines and know-how.
They are used by artists in residence, schools, community groups and partners from across Europe. Visiting residents and educators have free access to all of them, with technical support and weekly introduction sessions.
FabLab
From idea to prototype. The main FabLab is in Casa Buinho and has two spaces.
Workshop — CNC router, 100 W laser cutter and tools for woodwork and machine building.
Studio — eight 3D printers, vinyl cutter, large-format plotter, Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards, electronics, sensors and soldering, computers with design software and a small library on art, design and management.
The headquarters, on the main square, works as an extension of the FabLab and hosts our Repair Cafés.
Education makerspace
At Buinho Educativo, a room dedicated to learning: laser cutters, 3D and vinyl printers, electronics, robotics, microcontrollers and virtual reality kits.
This is where we welcome schools and holiday programmes, train teachers and educators, and prepare the materials we take to the makerspaces in schools and municipalities across Baixo Alentejo.
Textile Lab
Sewing machines, digital embroidery, tufting and other textile equipment, also at Buinho Educativo.
It is home to the Messejana sewing club, which has met twice a week since 2024: donated clothes and fabric get a new life and participants share what they know. It is also a lab for textile experimentation with residents, designers and European projects such as ABRI.
Precious Plastic
An annex behind Casa Buinho, with its own entrance, housing plastic recycling machines built on the Precious Plastic method.
Bottle caps, packaging and plastic waste become sheets, parts and objects — in workshops with schools and young people, in residencies and in the European Precious Plastic project, with young people from seven countries and an Erasmus+ Good Practice label.
Bio Lab
Biomaterials and mycelium: experimenting with fungi, food waste and local fibres to create new materials.
It is the lab behind the Materia Viva and SUBSTRACTO projects, between the laboratory, the artist residency and the territory. A dedicated room for growing mycelium is being prepared.
Access
Visiting residents and educators have free access to the labs, with technical support and weekly introduction sessions.
Networks
and the FabLabs Portugal network