As promised in my last post I wanted to present to you hackerspaces, places where you can indulge in building circuits, media installations, DIY electronic and interactive art or enjoy hardware hacking, physical computing or programming.

To get those of you inspired who have never been at a hackerspace, I have added a photo from my first steps into the world of programming and Arduino.
I have started to learn Arduino last summer and it’s been great fun to get LEDs blinking, sensors working and software running!

For today, I chose four cities where members of what if? come from:
Vienna, Dublin, Zürich and Wellington. I added The Hacktory from Philadelphia/USA, because it seems to be a cool place to be.

Vienna/Austria:
Vienna – hacker space for women

Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory is a feminist hackerspace, specifically for persons who call themselves women or trans. If you love to make things, rather than consuming them, meet up at Mz Baltazar’s to share your skills. Mz Baltazar’s participants come from different backgrounds, ages and mindsets to exchange equipment, build circuits, play with DIY electronics and interactive art. We encourage each other to learn new tools and collaborate. All workshops are free in order to offer a fearless, accessible platform to tinker with male connotated toys. The artwork created at Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory is generated with Open Source Soft- and Hardware.

Zurich/Switzerland:
You will find the Zurich-hackerspace from the chaos computer club Zürich and the shegeeks at Chaos Computer Club Zürich/SheGeeks, Luegislandstrasse 485,CH-8051 Zürich: its meant for tinkerers, programmers, DIY-people.

Dublin/Ireland:
The Recyclism Hacklab is an autonomous and self-funded space, headquartered in Trinity College Dublin.

A collaborative workspace focused on contemporary DIY and hacking practices. Within this multidisciplinary space both workshops and mentoring sessions in physical computing, hardware hacking and 3D printing are facilitated and taught. The Recylism Hacklab provides a wide range of creative practitioners an informal environment where they can engage in critical making, and receive support for self directed research and autonomous learning.

The Hacklab research interests include: Video, Sound, Programming and algorithmic processes, Interactive and media installation, Physical computing and interface, Art games, Performance. Have a look at their fabulous workshops: http://hacklab.recyclism.com/category/workshops/

Wellington/New Zealand:
MakersNZ – Wellington Regional Meetup
A Wellington meetup dedicated to digital fabrication & digital making.The main goal is to establish a community of makers in Wellington – so come along and see whats going on.

Philadelphia/USA
The Hacktory-Repurposing Technology, Making Art

The Hacktory was formed in November 2007 by a group of art and technology enthusiasts. The Hacktory wants to reinforce the idea that our world is malleable – the devices and spaces we interact with everyday can be re-purposed and modified to create new experiences.

Explore, share, and let us know about your favorite hackerspace.