​SYN-| European Creative Hubs Forum | Athens
​DATES: 26-28 JANUARY
LOCATION: ROMANTSO, ATHENS
ORGANISER: BIOS ATHENS ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN CREATIVE HUBS NETWORK
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Bios invited me to keynote the SYN, the second European Creative Hubs Network Forum, held in Athens, Greece, this January. It is a gathering more than 100 creative hubs from all over Europe to explore the theme of growth in terms of: 

• expanding – expansion of traditional business models
• re adjusting terms – establishing new, more fluid, and more creative ideas of economic mechanisms, expanding industries boundaries
• sharing the creative process for maximum results
• helping the local economy grow – incorporating the individual (artist / local economy) into a larger spectrum (group / international economy) whilst preserving its unique features, connecting society, culture, creativity and the industry.

The international forum titled syn- (/sɪn/, prefix, acting or considered together; united)  is part of the European Creative Hubs Network project initiated by the British Council, in which Bios participates together with partners from Serbia (Nova Iskra), Spain (Factoria Cultural), Germany (betahaus), the United Kingdom (Creative Edinburgh), Belgium (EBN) and Portugal (ADDICT).

Follow the journey around this incredible city: @popuphood instagram and twitter with #ECHNforumAthens #creativehubs #Syn #popuphood. 
I will be visiting civic projects and additional co-working and creative hubs while I am there. Of course I will also visit the tourist sites, museums, and spend time with the many brilllinat folks that are visiting from all over Europe. Stay tuned for more posts recapping the forum. 

Lost Arts Studio Visit: 
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I couldn't go to Chicago and NOT check out the new Lost Arts space. They were generous enough to take an hour to tour us around, share their vision, and talk to us about the ecosystem of Chicago innovation. I LOVE the space and their ethos of flex space for projects is what is most needed for prototyping the future of our cities. Only a few Universities have space and equipment like this, which makes a public membership space even more important. I also love that it started as a pop-up and grew into a larger second and more permanent space after a one month project.

In their own words: "Lost Arts is a blend of laboratory, workshop, atelier, incubator and playground rooted in a legacy of interdisciplinary spaces like the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College. Whether you need a desk to work at, a lightweight prototyping and production facility, art studio or event space we have you covered. At Lost Arts, ambitious creatives have the tools, resources, and kinship they need to bring new ideas to life. Focus on a personal project. Start a business. Discover a new discipline. Explore an idea, then build it." Special thank you to Dustin and to the founder Charles Alder! Read more here.

Chicago Design Museum:

This was another stop of ours, the Chicago Design Museum. Although in a mall, we were impressed with the installation, gift shop, and studio in the back all sharing a space that hosted various exhibitions and critical investigations of design within the city. The current exhibition was the "City of Ideas: Architects’ Voices and Visions"  an "ongoing conceptual installation project, inaugurated at Sydney University’s Tin Sheds Gallery and traveling to ChiDM from October 2016 to February 2017. Its key objective is to present original voices and visions of leading international architects recorded and transcribed by curator Vladimir Belogolovsky."  I think we will see more of this, utilizing empty mall spaces for civic minded and engaged concept spaces. To be honest I was more interested in the shop / office space in the back, and wanted to know a bit more about how the experiment was leading them. For an architectural and design space it had a VERY specific aesthetic that did not challenge the raw space with plywood and black paint look, yet I look forward to how they settle in to the space and push further into building it out to look more inviting and inclusive.