Open Design City

The last event planning workshop spawned 24 events in Open Design City for 2 Months. It brought the http://www.graffitiresearchlab.de/ to the ODC, and many skills were shared, from how to program your own Bluetooth Devices to Knitting.

So where do we go from here?
Is there something you missed that you want to learn?
Is there a new skill you want to share?
Is there a project you want to explore amongst like minds, learning as you go?
Do you want regular meets/play sessions/discussions?

Come along and help shape ODC to meet your needs and desires.

We have been talking about this for some time and now it's happening. We embrace the DIY Philosophy and we actually live it every day. It is how betahaus occurred: we wanted a special working-space but couldn't afford to buy it or it wasn't on the market yet.  So we just did it ourselves.

In April 2010 we have opened up the ODC where people can try things out and create stuff . ODC-Citizens can show each other how tools work as in peer-to-peer education or we should rather call it amateur-to-amateur education. They say knowledge workers are in need of  more hands-on activities,  so why not build a new fancy lampshade or a better storage for fresh herbs?

On the 24th of July from 2pm-7pm you will find a great setting to let your creativity and inventiveness run wild @ OpenDesignCity Market in betahaus.

Albinoplast will join the ODC-Market. On the “Plastic Playground” they will provide you with enough stones to build everything from rabbits to bridges out of white plastic bricks. You can either buy the material and take your own creation home, set a price for your creation and sell it or buy an already built plastic bricks product at the Albinoplast stand.

We have built the first 'Hanging Gardens' on the 9.th of July at the Betahaus Hamburg opening event. Bring some empty Volvic water bottles along and Lisa and Ana will show you how you can decorate your kitchen with the new herbs recipients.

They can be hanging right next to your starch  plastic lampshade - which you can learn to make from your favourite vintage pullover in a workshop with Christopher Doering and Jay Cousins.

Original Brazilian Caipirinha made by Zena, funky disco beats made by our Italian guest DJ and the hot summer weather are just 3 reasons why you should spend the next Saturday afternoon at betahaus.

As the WMP! is on summer vacation fashion & design sellers are welcome to sell their clothes and products. Contact: event@betahaus.de

I'm presently drafting a monster post trying to tell a story of stories about the Epicness of the DMY Maker Lab. The vibe was so intense with maker energy and fun, that at times I nearly cried with joy.

As well as the emergence of the space (see below), there were a number of product outputs which I will attempt to document as best I can. I apologise in advance for the absence of documentation and accreditation, because I do not know the creators of all objects. However I encourage them to come forward and share their files and processes.

Luis was building a light frame for the starch plastic lampshades, it subsequently evolved into a futuristic helmet that did the talking for him @ Pecha Kucha DMY.

Laser cut rings were proving a popular hit, I hope we can get some photo's of Zelda's name knuckle dusters

Mendel constructed a laser cut frame for starch plastic lighting, but we decided it was beautiful in it's own right.

I was very pleased with the lightness of this lampshade. It's unfinished beta quality indicates maker process, and invites the user to finish it.

Some laser cut bling

I love this laser cut necklace, will try and get the source files from waag (hopefully it will be entered in the (Un) limited design competition, the same applies to the bag below.

There was a lot of starch plastic (FKA bioplastic) iterations, at the event and more we hope to follow.

Big thanks to everybody who helped make this event rock - especially these guy's, DMY, Etsy and Becks

The DMY Maker Lab was a collaborative emergent event, created by everybody that attended. If you were a part of it, please tell your story.

We will be having a public "Decompression" on Tuesday for those interested to hear and share stories and outcomes from the event, plus exploring where next for the Open Design City

Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcottam/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/11576222@N00/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/51094567@N07/