There is a great deal of interest in the rise of makerspaces and other sites of autonomous creative production. Can this energy be harnessed to power civic regeneration, and help create more liveable urban spaces? This talk draws on some research I co-authored for Nesta to set out an overview of where makerspaces came from, where they are now, and how they might contribute to the development of urban spaces.

1. Makerspaces
on
the
high
street
Loughborough
University
Market
Town
15
July
2015
Andrew
Sleigh
Twitter:
@andrewsleigh
Slides
and
links:
http://is.gd/loughborough

2. 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

3. Where
did
makerspaces
come
from?

4. Artists’
studios
PHOTO:
LILLSTREET
ART
CENTER

5. Hack(er)spaces
PHOTO:
MITCH
ALTMAN

6. Fablabs
PHOTO:
FAB
LAB
BARCELONA

7. What
is
a
makerspace
today?

8. PHOTO:
MARTIN
RAYNSFORD
Cambridge
Makespace

9. London
Hackspace
PHOTO:
ANDREW
SHADURA

10. Autodesk
Pier
9
PHOTO:
BLAKE
MARVIN
/
METROPOLIS
MAGAZINE

11. +
Web
Community
Peer
support
Project
sharing
Instructions
Crowdfunding
Ordering
materials
Code/design
sharing
Remote
fabrication
Supply
chain
etc…
{

12. Nesta
UK
Makerspaces
mapping
research.
Some
things
we
learned.

13. NESTA.ORG.UK/UK-­‐MAKERSPACES

14. We
found
97
makerspaces,
all
over
the
UK

15. 2006 2015
13
21
16
12
7
4
3
1
0
1
SOFAR…
NEW
MAKERSPACES
EACH YEAR
Makerspaces
have
seen
rapid
growth
in
the
last
5
years

16. In
makerspaces,
people
socialise,
learn
and
make
things
41%
35%
33%

17. Mostly
in
‘low
road’
locations
PHOTO:
ACCESS
SPACE,
SHEFFIELD
–Stewart
Brand,
How
Buildings
Learn
“low-­‐visibility,
low-­‐rent,
no-­‐style,
high-­‐turnover”

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

19. “10,000
Garages”
Digital
designs,
fabricated
locally?

22. Cloud
DDM
(Direct
Digital
Manufacturing)

26. Fashion
PHOTO:
NEW
VESTURES
/
BRIAN
ACHILLE

27. Supply
to
retail
PHOTO:
ASSEMBLE
&
JOIN

28. Entrepreneur
support
for
new
maker
businesses
PHOTO:
TECHSHOP

29. Civic
engagement
“Urban
Prototyping”
PHOTO:
BRIAN
L.
FRANK/WIRED

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