Forum communiTy + cuLTure Community + Culture features practitioner perspectives on designing technologies for and with communities. We highlight compelling projects and provocative points of view that speak to both community technology practice and the interaction design field as a whole. Christopher A. Le Dantec Created in China: The Makings of China’s Hackerspace Community Silvia Lindtner University of California, Irvine |
[email protected] David Li XinCheJian |
[email protected] Hackerspaces are shared studios In September 2010, China’s first that bring together people commit- hackerspace opened its doors ted to the free and open sharing of in Shanghai under the name software and hardware, as well as XinCheJian 新车间 (literal transla- ideas and knowledge. As of April tion: new workshop, or new factory). 2012, there are more than 500 active Only a year after the founding of hackerspaces in existence world- XinCheJian, the Shanghai govern- wide, making them a global phe- ment announced a call for proposals nomenon [1]. A typical studio will be to build 100 “innovation houses” equipped with tools that allow for (chuangxin wu 创新屋) to be sup- experimenting with the physical/ ported by government funding. digital boundary—laser cutters, 3-D Although the official document [4] printers, microcontroller kits, and described this initiative as part of so forth. Many hackerspaces also a larger effort to build a citywide host educational workshops where platform for supporting popular sci- these tools are used to teach others ence work and innovation, national about manipulating the physical and international media inter- environment through software, or preted this move as an endorse- vice versa.