Makerspaces on the High Street

Makerspaces  on    the  high  street  

Loughborough  University  Market  Town  15  July  2015  

Andrew  Sleigh  Twitter:  @andrewsleigh  Slides  and  links:  http://is.gd/loughborough

What  I’m  going  to  talk  about:  

1. Where  did  makerspaces  come  from  2. What  is  a  makerspace  today  3. Some  research  we  did  for  Nesta,  and  

what  we  learned  4. Some  opportunities  for  

makerspaces  on  the  high  street

FACTS  

WILD    SPECULATION

Where  did  makerspaces    come  from?

Artists’  studios

PHOTO:  LILLSTREET  ART  CENTER

Hack(er)spaces

PHOTO:  MITCH  ALTMAN

Fablabs

PHOTO:  FAB  LAB  BARCELONA

What  is  a  makerspace  today?

PHOTO:  MARTIN  RAYNSFORD

Cambridge  Makespace

London  Hackspace

PHOTO:  ANDREW  SHADURA

Autodesk  Pier  9

PHOTO:  BLAKE  MARVIN  /  METROPOLIS  MAGAZINE

+  Web  

Community  Peer  support  Project  sharing  Instructions  Crowdfunding  Ordering  materials  Code/design  sharing  Remote  fabrication  Supply  chain  etc…

{

Nesta  UK  Makerspaces  mapping  research.  

Some  things  we  learned.

NESTA.ORG.UK/UK-­‐MAKERSPACES

We  found  97  makerspaces,    all  over  the  UK

2006 2015

13

21

16

12

7

43101

SO F

AR

…

NEW MAKERSPACES EACH YEAR

Makerspaces  have  seen  rapid  growth  in  the  last  5  years

In  makerspaces,  people  socialise,    learn  and  make  things

41%

35%33%

Mostly  in  ‘low  road’  locations

PHOTO:  ACCESS  SPACE,  SHEFFIELD

–Stewart  Brand,  How  Buildings  Learn“low-­‐visibility,  low-­‐rent,  no-­‐style,  high-­‐turnover”

Some  opportunities    (Including  some  hype,  and  some        cold  water)

“10,000  Garages”  Digital  designs,  fabricated  locally?

Cloud  DDM    (Direct  Digital  Manufacturing)

Fashion

PHOTO:  NEW  VESTURES  /  BRIAN  ACHILLE

Supply  to  retail

PHOTO:  ASSEMBLE  &  JOIN

Entrepreneur  support  for  new  maker  businesses

PHOTO:  TECHSHOP

Civic  engagement  “Urban  Prototyping”

PHOTO:  BRIAN  L.  FRANK/WIRED

Thank  you.  

Twitter:  @andrewsleigh  Slides  and  links:  is.gd/loughborough