The Cave is a new maker space being created at Jindingshan (金鼎山) in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is located above the existing three-section 1919 art space on Jindingshan Bei Lu (金鼎山北路).
There are not many maker spaces in China, though they are quite popular in Europe and increasingly elsewhere. The general idea is that everyone pitches in a nominal fee and gets the benefit of sharing the facility, tools, and knowledge and time.
At this stage, based upon projected expenses, monthly dues will be 250CNY. While this is more than we would have liked, it may drop in future as we get going and broaden our membership base. In exchange, members will receive access to events, internet, a growing list of tools, and a huge space consisting of 380m² which breaks down as follows:
150m² outdoor covered space, north-west facing, ramp access, parking, ideal for BBQ, beer, outdoor events, spray painting, motorbike tinkering, etc. There is some rumour of a projected garden.
186m² ground floor internal space. Two roll-a-doors, one north facing on to outdoor covered space and ramp, one west facing at truck height (loading dock for heavy equipment access), including:
50m² downstairs of potential sublet or enclosed storage space. There is some discussion of using part of this space for a sound-proofed room or recording studio.
50m²+ upstairs of raised office space on a solid steel frame structure. This will include built-in shared desk space and possibly private desk space for those who wish to use the facility as a co-working space for an additional fee.
Facilities:
Excellent location adjoining the first ring road, just off Xuefulu (学府路) and accessible either via Huangtupo (黄土坡) or Yangxianpo (羊仙坡). The site sits within a local government supported arts zone that includes gallery spaces, technology parks, skate parks and music practice areas as well as restaurants and a youth hostel. It is three kilometers from the Green Lake / Wenlinjie area. (Dodgy map image #1, Dodgy map image #2, Google Maps Directions, OpenStreetMap, rough address for baidu maps = 云南省昆明市五华区金鼎北路20), Wikipedia Maps
Industrial zoning (no noise issues).
24 hour on-site physical security staff, plus video security.
Access ramp and truck loading dock
Stupendous vertical clearance (estimated 8.5 meter roof).
Ample parking.
Existing toilets on campus, plans to install another on-site.
Internet access.
Industrial power.
The idea of the shared space is to facilitate people trying new things and learning new skills in a non-profit, collaboratively run environment. By way of example, presently we have some interest from different parties who wish to use the space for the following purposes:
Barbeques
Brewing beer
Co-working office space
Dancing (eg. Tango classes)
Electronic library
Film making
Film screenings
Furniture design and construction
Gardening / green-wall / hydroponics
Literary interest groups
Metalwork
Music production
Motorbike tinkering
Painting
Parties
Screen printing
Skill-focused lectures
Textiles and clothing/fashion production
Video editing
Woodwork
Below is an introduction video we made for the space featuring Andrew, Jordan and Luan.
We are lucky to have some people who can contribute existing skills to the space, including artists, a master woodworker, a former commercial screen printer, patternmakers, programmers, writers.
There is interest in acquiring the following equipment. If you can donate or contribute anything, please let us know:
3D printer (many types exist)
Computer server and many hard disks for storage
Fridge
Lathe (woodworking)
Projector (film screenings, lectures, etc.)
Equipment already pledged for donation:
Basic woodworking equipment
Computer (old macbook)
Fridge
Scanner (new)
Equipment we plan to build ourselves (existing volunteers):
Furniture
Information is roughly current as of 2015-11-05 (afternoon).
