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Space of the month

REGULAR

ast month we featured Urban Hax

in the heart of England’s historic

maker country. Geoff, one of the

space’s co‑directors, cited Artisan’s

Asylum as an inspiration for Urban Hax,

so this issue we’re featuring this huge

makerspace in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The story of Artisan’s Asylum began in 2010,

when Gui Cavalcanti, a robotics engineer at Boston

Dynamics, and Jenn Martinez started looking around

for a makerspace. Recent graduates of Olin College

of Engineering and MIT, they were used to having a

university makerspace, and the outside world didn’t

have one at the time. So, they decided to create

their own.

Gui bought a set of metalworking tools and the

pair found a 1000 square foot industrial unit, and

they put out a call to local makers, hoping to get

maybe 20–30 people. When 100 people showed

up, they knew they were on to a winner. They

moved twice in the first year and a half, into 9000

and 25 000 square foot locations, and now Artisan’s

Asylum has 40 000 sq ft of space and 300 members.

Artisan’s Asylum members have received $5 million

in Kickstarter funding, and $4 millon in venture

capital funding, and the businesses associated

with the space have doubled the number of

manufacturing companies in the city.

Artisan’s Asylum has a huge range of facilities,

including (deep breath): a ventilated room for

working with spray paint; a bike shop; dedicated

digital fabrication room with 3D printers, laser

cutters, a vinyl cutter, and then there are jewellery,

welding, electronics, and woodworking rooms, and a

whole bunch more.

L

Space of the month:

Artisan’s Asylum

Artisan’s Asylum

Artisansasylum.com

@artisansasylum