YouRban
YouRban was a European project that turned hard-to-recycle reinforced polymers into urban installations and products, through a mobile recycling plant travelling between cities.
The project
YouRban brought together citizens, artists, designers, architects and small-scale producers around the recycling of fibre-reinforced polymers. Industrial waste such as wind turbine blades, boat hulls and broken bicycles became new design artefacts through digital fabrication and a distributed design approach.
The project was aligned with the New European Bauhaus and the European Green Deal, and ran two pilots in Milan and Barcelona, two cities taking part in the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities.
Our contribution
Within the sub-project “The YouRban Factory at Fab Lab Barcelona”, Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC acted as the main Urban Factory and technical anchor of the residency phase. The lab provided workspace and equipment, including CNC milling, 3D printing and resin processing, and mentoring on material testing, mould-making and structural engineering.
The work followed the principles of Distributed Design: open, adaptable and shareable designs for local fabrication, designed for manufacturing in Fab Labs and for disassembly, so that products can be repaired, reused or recycled. It explored two types of solutions, plastic ReForm and Open FRP Designs.
Who was it for?
European artists, designers, architects and citizens, together with urban operators, small manufacturers and artisans looking for circular economy skills.
Project outputs
- Urban installations and products made from recycled composites
- Technical training modules
- The YouRban4Learn (Y4L) digital repository
- A toolkit for educators
Composite materials such as fibre-reinforced polymers are difficult to recycle and often end up as unused waste in cities.
A mobile recycling plant installed in a truck, travelling between cities as a community hub for on-site fabrication, material recovery and public training.
1 October 2025 – 31 May 2026
YouRban (2025-2026)
Horizon Europe cascade funding (HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-53)
Politecnico di Milano (IT)
€ 80.000
Fab Lab Barcelona
Partners
Politecnico di Milano (IT), SYXIS (LT), AIVOX (IT), FIBEREUSE TECH (IT), Origoni e Steiner Architetti (IT), Milano Mediterranea (IT), LABAULA Arquitectes (ES), designaustria (AT).
Description
Large urban co-creative, sustainable and inclusive ecosystem for the recycling of reinforced polymers on-the-truck.
Frequently asked questions
YouRban
YouRban was a European project that turned hard-to-recycle reinforced polymers into urban installations and products, through a mobile recycling plant travelling between cities and pilots in Milan and Barcelona.
The YouRban Factory at Fab Lab Barcelona ran from October 2025 to May 2026.
Fab Lab Barcelona took part through cascade funding from the Horizon Europe project YouRban (grant agreement 101135997), with € 80.000 for IAAC.
The consortium was coordinated by Politecnico di Milano and included SYXIS, AIVOX, FIBEREUSE TECH, Origoni e Steiner Architetti, Milano Mediterranea, LABAULA Arquitectes and designaustria.
Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC was the main Urban Factory of the residency phase, offering workspace, digital fabrication equipment and mentoring on material testing, mould-making and structural engineering.