(1888PressRelease) July 02, 2024 – A pioneering partnership with BXP, the development of this new community resource marks a historic milestone for Cambridge, the Greater Boston area, and the Fab Lab Network.
Located at 325 Main Street in Kendall Square, the new headquarters will be a living laboratory, providing access to state-of-the-art tools for technology innovation to a diverse Cambridge community, developing and deploying best practices in digital fabrication throughout the region, and coordinating global programs across the network.
“BXP has dedicated this valuable central space to the Fab Foundation as a social impact commitment to Cambridge and the Kendall Square community,” states Bryan Koop, Executive Vice President for BXP’s Boston region. “This project serves as a pilot, demonstrating new ways for developers to meet the needs of the communities in which they work.”
For 15 years, the Fab Foundation, a Boston-based educational nonprofit, has served as steward of the international Fab Lab Network. Begun as an outreach project from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms to expand access to advanced manufacturing in underserved communities, the network has grown to include more than 2,700 Fab Labs in 135 countries. These digital fabrication laboratories are sites for STEM outreach, hands-on technical training, business incubation, and advancing sustainability commitments.
“From their local origin, Fab Labs have spread virally around the world,” says Neil Gershenfeld, Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms and Chairman of the Fab Foundation’s Board. “We’re thrilled to now have this opportunity to help lead the next phase of the revolution, asking how we’ll live, learn, work, and play if anyone can make (almost) anything, anywhere.”
The facility will include a full-featured Fab Lab with tools for rapid-prototyping and short-run production of functional systems; a storefront selling products designed by the global network and produced locally; an event space for classes, talks, workshops, demonstrations, and collaborations; and the Fab Foundation’s headquarters, providing a front-office portal and back-office support for the Fab Lab Network.
From the Kendall Square hub, it will be possible to participate in distributed hands-on education programs through the Fab Lab network’s Academany platform. This includes such courses as the Fab Academy (joining counterparts from 100 countries) for digital fabrication, Fabricademy for textile technologies, Bio Academy for biotechnology, and Fab All-In for the promotion of access and inclusion. The site will also serve as a hub for Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston’s participation in the Fab City global initiative, a 40-year countdown to urban self-sufficiency.
“We serve both our global and local communities in the same way, by providing access to resources that will support education, social impact, and economic development, especially for those who have been historically excluded,” explains Sherry Lassiter, President and CEO of the Fab Foundation. “We are so very excited to be working with BXP, the Kendall Square Association, and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority to add to their great community work, bringing access to advanced technical tools, STEM education, and new economic opportunities relevant to the 21st-century economy directly to Cambridge.”
CALL TO ACTION: Learn more or get involved at fabfoundation.org/hq
BXP (NYSE: BXP) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years. BXP is a fully integrated real estate company, organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). As of March 31, 2024, including properties owned by unconsolidated joint ventures, BXP’s portfolio totaled 53.5 million square feet and 187 properties, including 11 properties under construction/redevelopment. For more information about BXP, please visit www.bxp.com, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
The Fab Foundation is a U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that emerged from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. The Fab Foundation’s mission is to provide access to the tools, knowledge, and means to educate, innovate, and invent using technology and digital fabrication to allow anyone to make (almost) anything, thereby creating new pathways to economic opportunity. The Fab Foundation is a global steward of the Fab Lab Network, a community of more than 2,700 technical learning and innovation spaces in more than 135 countries.
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