Looking Sideways

In this episode, I’m visiting three people all working in maker education. My first stop is at the Shenzhen American International School in the Shekou district of Shenzhen, to meet Carrie Leung, who teaches a maker-based curriculum there. Just down the road from SAIS is Steamhead Makerspace. Set up by James Simpson, it’s a space where … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 6 – Maker Ed"

In this episode, we focus on design – and in particular, how designers help bring products to life through Shenzhen’s vast network of suppliers and manufacturers. Shenzhen is a destination for anyone who manufactures electronics products, whether they’re Apple, or a hardware startup that’s just cruised through it’s crowdfunding goal. Some of the bigger manufacturers have … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 5: Product Design"

In China, the term makerspace can mean many different things; some unrecognisable to people used to a European or American use of that word. But Chaihuo X.Factory would be familiar to any maker coming from outside China, with a co-working desk space, machine shop and woodshop, and an enviable selection of tools. Chaihuo is perhaps most … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 4 – Violet Su at Chaihuo X.Factory"

In this episode, I speak with Vicky Xie, who’s the global cooperation director of SZOIL (Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab). As well as running a fablab, they help foreign companies plug into the local supply chain, helping them understand how to work with factories, component manufacturers and designers in Shenzhen. We talk about open source in … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 3 – Vicky Xie at SZOIL"

In the 2nd episode of this special series reporting from Shenzhen, the world centre for electronics manufacturing, I speak with Christina Zhang, the co-founder of Kittenbot. Kittenbot make educational robot kits with motors, sensors and onboard computers, all built using open-source hardware and software. They’re built on the popular Arduino platform, and can be controlled … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 2 — Christina Zhang from Kittenbot"

Welcome to the first in a special series of Looking Sideways focusing on maker culture in Shenzhen, the world centre for electronics manufacturing. Over the last 30 years, this city has grown to a population of 15-20 million people, who’ve flocked here to work in factories, and the associated supply chain, or start businesses in design, … Continue reading "Shenzhen Special 1 — Maker Faire"

This is a trailer for a new series of Looking Sideways coming direct from Shenzhen, the centre of the global electronics manufacturing industry. I’ll be interviewing makers to tell their stories, and find out what makes Shenzhen’s Maker culture so special. I hope you’ll join me. This series of Looking Sideways is a Lighthouse production.

In this special episode of Looking Sideways, I talk with writer, editor and internet pioneer, Kevin Kelly. He’s just published a new book, The Inevitable, which draws out a broad sweep of trends that he believes will shape our future. The ideas are set out with the confidence that you’d expect from a book with such … Continue reading "7 — Kevin Kelly"

Today’s guest, Kazys Varnelis, helps me take a look at today’s maker culture through the lens of the Arts and Crafts Movement, as well as the many DIY and counter-culture movements that sprang up in the second half of the 20th Century. We talk about making as a startup culture, and making as a form of … Continue reading "6 — Kazys Varnelis"

Thomas Lommée is a designer who maintains the OpenStructures project, a “construction system where everyone designs for everyone.” OpenStructures is an experiment that explores what happens when people design objects using a common open standard — allowing for objects to be reconfigured or adapted over time, and parts to be swapped out, exchanged or added to create new objects. It’s … Continue reading "5 — Thomas Lommée"