Ignacio Merino SanchezFayos

Ignacio Merino SanchezFayos is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Design and Arts, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where he teaches Digital Design: 3D CAD Advanced. His academic work integrates theoretical instruction with hands-on design practice, focusing on sustainable innovation within industrial production systems.

Merino's research centers on sustainable design methodologies, digital manufacturing processes, and DIY culture's role in redefining industrial production. His work through the Design Friction Lab explores the intersection of high-tech and low-tech solutions, emphasizing ethical production, material longevity, and aesthetic functionality in contemporary design.

His design portfolio demonstrates consistent innovation in sustainable object creation, spanning safety equipment, modular furniture, and everyday products. These projects exhibit recurring themes of user-centered adaptation, material efficiency, and reinterpretation of traditional objects for modern urban contexts, often utilizing digital fabrication techniques like 3D printing farms.

Merino's work has achieved international recognition through exhibitions at Milan Design Week, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Vitra Design Museum, showcasing how digital manufacturing can enable transparent, fast, and intricate production systems while addressing environmental concerns.

His notable recognition includes:

• Red Dot Award 2020 for the SEVENTWENTY helmet design

As co-founder of the Design Friction Lab, Merino leads initiatives like DIYR (Do It Yourself Revolution) and Sustainable Smart Parasites, which investigate how prosumer-driven practices can reshape industrial production. The lab's philosophy combines simplicity, longevity, ethics, and aesthetics to create sustainable technology-enabled systems that challenge conventional manufacturing paradigms.