Cultural centre activities
Cultural and creative activities for professionals and citizens year-round
We work with over 50 organisations from all around the world on European projects
Espacio Open
The Cookie Factory
International Projects
Fab Lab Bilbao
Maker Ekintzale Residencies
Drawmakina
Space Ganbara
Biker Blinker
Usaimen Memoria
Sonidos de la Ciudad
La Sombra de Dios
Trashy Hanger
Soberanía Cerámica
Cuerpos Ausentes
Maker Faire Bilbao
(de)Futuribles
Botanical Creators
Memory Wall: Auzolan and exhibition
Residents of la Ribera
Presentation of Creation Residencies
Children and Family Workshops
Cultural Centre Activities
Memory Wall
Valla project - Kunsthal
Jardín Secreto
Freedom Jam Sessions
Vintage Club
Filming and Events
Vintage Bilbao
European Projects
T-Factor
Distributed Design Platform
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
Visitors
Media Coverage
Events
International Networks 8 46 63 75 78 82 84
Espacio Open is an ecosystem of creative projects with a positive social impact. Since 2009, it has been located in Bilbao's former cookie factory (Artiach Factory), in the La Ribera de Deusto / Zorrotzaurre quarter. We have over 150,000 annual visitors, 14 employees, and 2,000 m2 facility space. As a cultural centre and not-for-profit association, Espacio Open works on the intersection between contemporary culture, creative technologies, and social impact.
Espacio Open is a cultural centre located in the former Artiach cookie factory. It is devoted to boosting projects related to creative technologies, digital art, and innovation, in order to generate a positive social impact on the local environment.
Espacio Open is a cultural centre located in the former Artiach cookie factory. It is devoted to boosting projects related to creative technologies, digital art, and innovation, in order to generate a positive social impact on the local environment.
We are part of international networks related to the maker movement and open knowledge, and we participate in the local cultural and creative ecosystem, supporting new creators. At Espacio Open, we have the digital fabrication lab Fab Lab Bilbao. With this laboratory, we foster the creative residency programme for art and design professionals and the maker world, offering tools, accompaniment, and funding.
We also develop our own projects throughout the year to link creative technologies and social impact, and the space is open to workshops and cultural tours. Every year, we hold Maker Faire Bilbao, the International Creative Technologies Festival devoted to sharing the latest technological progress, with conferences, workshops, and presentations.
These are always free and intended for professional profiles in the artistic, technological, and maker world. We also provide other activities for all kinds of audiences. Moreover, as players linked to social innovation, in 2024, we partnered with the European projects Horizon 2020 TFactor and Creative Europe Distributed Design.
Every weekend, we offer free leisure activities, with concerts and cultural events. Additionally, from Friday through Sunday, we open our cafeteria Jardín Secreto Bilbao, the Vintage Bilbao shop with over 500m2 of second-hand clothing, and the workshop and exhibition space in Fab Lab Bilbao. Our objective is to support the local creative ecosystem and create a positive impact on our environment through technology. www.espacioopen.com
In 1921, the Artiach family inaugurated the new factory located in La Ribera de Deusto, with the most modern fittings available at that time to achieve high production levels. Its 60- person staff was mainly women. In the early years, they produced up to 18 tonnes of cookies per day.
The cookie makers mobilise to claim their rights as workers, organising strikes to fight for a dignified salary. At the end of this decade, they succeeded in obtaining more highly-qualified positions.
Artiach reaches 600 employees, most of them women. They are young, in the difficult post-war years, with long workdays and lower wages than men.
The former factory has become an industrial space with many small companies and craftspeople filling the galleries, but the crisis in the 90s gradually empties the space.
The terrible Bilbao flood also affects the factory and Artiach decides to move to Orozco. A new phase begins for the former factory, and it is filled with small industrial workshops.
Espacio Open moves into the former Artiach cookie factory. It begins with several projects, including the Sunday market “Open Your Ganbara.” This creative initiative marks the beginning of a new stage for the factory, drawing in other creative projects to fill the factory’s shops that, until this point, had been empty.
In 2007, the Master Plan for the island was approved, although it will take over a decade to begin. At this same time, the first creative projects move to the neighbourhood.
First Creative Europe European project: Distributed Design
First Open Your Ganbara Event
First FAB LAB Bilbao Creation residencies
We open the cultural centre’s cafeteria: Jardín Secreto Bilbao
First Maker Faire Bilbao
First Modification of the Urban Plan for Cultural Activity
First Horizon 2020 T-Factor European Project
At Fab Lab Bilbao we manufacture more than 10,000 PPE to combat COVID
First Erasmus Plus Eureka European Project
Esker On award from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia
Inauguration of the Memory Wall exposition at Jardín Secreto Bilbao
Second Modification of the Urban Plan for Cultural and Complementary Activities
Selected as a Sorgune Creation Factory of the Basque Government
Vintage Bilbao is born as a continuation of the Open Your Ganbara market
First EIT European project: Elementary Cooling
Throughout the year, Espacio Open drives international projects. With Fab Lab Bilbao, in 2024, we developed creation residencies with professional profiles, as well as the International Maker Faire Bilbao Festival, bringing projects related to creative technologies to everyone, in addition to many other activities.
Fab Lab Bilbao is Espacio Open's digital fabrication lab, devoted to creation and the critical use of technology. Fab Lab Bilbao is a space fitted with digital fabrication technologies, open to communities and professionals. It aims to support the development of projects related to digital culture.
Bilbao is home to different creation programmes intended for artistic, technological, entrepreneurial, and maker community profiles through open calls. In turn, it drives its own projects related to using technologies for a positive social impact. https://espacioopen.com/fab-lab-bilbao/
Fab Lab Bilbao is available to educational entities, public institutions, and creation centres. Through the guided tour programme, these organisations can come discover the space and the possibilities opened by these technologies in contexts like art, education, and social innovation. Moreover, the lab provides consulting and training activities to cultural entities who wish to incorporate digital fabrication technological tools.
Fab Lab Bilbao is related to local creative communities and professionals. Throughout the year, they come to use Fab Lab Bilbao's facilities in a more informal fashion, to use the digital fabrication tools for their projects.
Maker Ekintzaile is a residency programme intended for creators in the field of digital culture and the critical use of technologies. Through these residencies, which have open candidacies, Espacio Open accompanies local and international creators. It provides them with digital fabrication tools, Fab Lab Bilbao's proprietary methodologies, and funding to develop their projects.
Maker Ekintzaile falls under the Sorgune programme for Creative Factories, funded by the Basque Government. The "Maker Ekintzaile" creation residencies are intended for entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, makers, and artists with a design or digital fabrication project that is in creation phase.
The purpose of the creation residencies is to accompany creative talents, providing a space for fabrication and immersive creation, fitted with digital fabrication tools and machinery. In turn, these residencies provide connections with local, national, and international professional networks, raising visibility for projects with a larger audience. With these residencies, Espacio Open is focused on creating new environments for learning, research, and experimentation to foster cultural production and creation as an engine to share knowledge and innovation.
https://espacioopen.com/la-sombra-de-dios/
The Sombra de Dios (God's Shadow) is an interactive visual experience regarding the archetype of shadows in digital language and the physical world. This project investigates how digitisation has redefined how we perceive and experience shadows as a cultural and symbolic phenomenon. The residency takes shape as an interactive installation. By capturing movement in real time and with Touchdesigner, the viewer interacts with their own projection, transforming their shadow into an interactive digital being.
The concept of shadow traditionally has had negative connotations. However, Camile Duhart is claiming the connotations that shadows have taken on in the digital age: as a fundamental resource that symbolises stability, orientation, time, and safety. Shadows are no longer a secondary element, but become the centre of focus, revealing what is hidden and providing new perspectives
on the perception of the "self".
Camile Duhart holds a degree in Fine Arts and a Master's in Visual Arts and Multimedia. Camile Duhart is a visual artist and video jockey. Her work blends
technology and art to create immersive experiences that explore cyberculture, kinetic art, and the bizarre. Through her interactive art projects, live visuals, and paintings, her works spark a constant confrontation between the physical and virtual worlds.
Space Ganbara is a project that came about as an experimental initiative. This project blends music, art, and electronica with the aim of exploring sound by combining analogical techniques and recycled components from old devices.
https://espacioopen com/space-ganbara/
Each part is made by hand, seeking not only for it to be functional, but also a creative tool and piece of art. The result of the residency took shape in two pieces: an analogical synthesizer and an amplifier with distortion. Both pieces have components
that are reused from old devices inside, and they were designed with patterns that evoke the retro aesthetic of the 1960s.
The main objective of Space Ganbara is to create parts that inspire creativity, motivating others to experiment and have fun with their creations. To this end, the intent is for the device to be used at Espacio Open's musical events.
Josu Hernández is an electronic engineer, musician, and composer, while Mar Molina holds a degree in Fine Arts, specialised in Art, Media, and Technology.
Josu has solid technical training and loves experimenting with new ways of creating sound. Mar is an artist and cultural mediator. Her greatest interest lies in fostering the interaction between the public, the work, and the space.
https://espacioopen com/usaimen-memoria/
Smell is one of the most powerful and direct senses, closely linked to our emotions and memory. Unlike other senses, aromas do not go through rational filters before reaching the brain. This makes them a unique tool to emotionally connect with the environment. Usainen
Memoria is an immersive installation to raise awarenessof the environmental impact in a profound, sensory way.
The creator, Catalina Ishtar Domínguez Rodríguez, used artisan techniques and digital fabrication tools to extract
the aromas characteristic of Euskadi's flora.
Multi-disciplinary artist who combines technology, art, and environmental awareness in her works. Trained in music and sensory creation, Catalina uses art to generate a social impact, exploring topics such as environmental conversation and climate change. Through her different artistic projects, she has collaborated with Fab Labs and technological centres, integrating science and art into her creative process.
The Usaimen Memoria project has an educational focus, highlighting how natural aromas can act as a warning for environmental changes. Through the multi-sensory experience, provided as an immersive installation, visitors are invited to reflect on the role of environmental conservation and the impact that degradation has on our everyday well-being.
DrawMakina is a drawing, Open Source, low-cost drawing machine. The project aims to combine technology and art in an accessible way to democratise access to digital fabrication tools, allowing anyone interested to build their own drawing
https://espacioopen.com/drawmakina/
machine to explore the creation of generative art through code or other techniques.
DrawMakina came about to create an affordable, opencode tool that joins art with technology.
During the process, the creator, Pia Pinedo, used 3D printing and laser cutting to build the DrawMakina parts. The list of components, assembly details, and D3 printing files were released under a Creative Commons license.
The residency also included workshops so that interested parties could learn both how to assemble the machine and to use the tools to create generative art.
Of Peruvian origin, Pia Pinedo is a product design engineer and holds a Master's in machine design and fabrication.
Throughout her career, she has combined her technical training with a deep interest in art and digital fabrication.
A maker movement enthusiast, her work focuses on CNC machinery creation and accessible tools for creative production.
https://espacioopen.com/sonidos-ciudad-experiencias-sensibles/
Although an essential component in day-to-day life, sound has traditionally been ignored in architectural design. Sonidos de la ciudad (Sounds of the City) is a project that investigates the phenomenology of the place, exploring how the relationship between sound and perception of environment directly affects our lives.
This project analyses how sound, often underestimated in architecture, can become a powerful tool to improve and create new spaces. Through graphic expressions generated with live coding and soundscapes captures with field recordings, the project transforms auditory perception of a place into dynamic images.
These graphic expressions not only interpret, but respond to the environment's sensory and acoustic characteristics, creating an immersive experience that combines the auditory and the visual.
the result of the residency at Fab Lab Bilbao took shape as an interactive audio-visual projection, with real-time visuals generated with live coding. The work, which combines soundscape recordings with graphic expressions, is also compiled on an interactive page.
Ane Herce
An architect with an innovative focus on sensory perception and its impact on architectural design. A graduate with a Master's in Architecture, Ana has devoted her career to exploring how the senses, particularly sound, can transform how we experience spaces.
Soberanía Cerámica (Ceramic Sovereignty) is an artistic project that critically addresses ceramic production methods, in order to decentralise obtaining the raw material from commercial channels, highlighting the fundamental component of the practise: clay.
Mara Riviello López
https://espacioopen.com/soberania-ceramica/
Under this project, the artist proposes an action which consists of collecting clay from within the metropolitan region of Bilbao and processing it to obtain a paste suitable for making parts with a 3D printer. Through these technologies, cubes were made using
ceramic paste, composed of different proportions of local clay. These cubes, conceived of as modules, provide greater details on the variations in the composition of each piece.
Soberanía Cerámica (SC) is an artistic project whose main goal is to foster a space for reflection on current ceramic practises and investigate new ways to conduct them. Ceramic, one of human's first technologies, has evolved in each region based on use of local resources and conditions.
Mara Riviello López
The Argentinean artist Riviello López is founder and coordinator of PAC - Prácticas Alternativas Cerámicas (Alternative Ceramic Practises).
This artistic project's main objective is to foster a space for reflection and investigation of urban ceramic practises, focused on implementing biomaterials.
https://espacioopen com/biker-blinker/
«"Biker Blinker" is a smart vest designed to improve road safety for cyclists at night, by automatically indicating turns and braking with LED lights.
The project was developed by students of a Higher Degree in Electronic Maintenance Víctor Hugo Capoeira and Yelko Feijóo Olea.
The two students decided to develop a system to increase the safety of bike riders by using open-code technologies to create a light signal system. This project came about after observing the lack of visibility for cyclists, especially at night. This situation increases the risk of accidents.
The system uses movement sensors that detect turns and changes in speed and transfer information via Bluetooth to a set of LED lights, such that signalling occurs automatically.
After developing their project, they intend to bring it to the B-Venture 2025 fair as an example of innovation.
Víctor Hugo Capoeira and Yelko Feijóo Olea
Second-year students in the Higher Degree in Electronic Maintenance at the Emilio Campuzano Institute. During their education, they had their first contact with Arduino, which awakened a
deep interest in technology and programming.
Being able to learn how to programme and seeing how ideas could turn into real projects was one of the main draws to continue researching and learning about these technologies.
The Cuerpos Ausentes (Absent Bodies) project explores the integration of digital technologies and fashion design, fusing practises inherent to architecture, sustainability, and art. This proposal attempts to challenge traditional fast fashion models, promoting
Nicolás Marchiaro
https://espacioopen com/cuerpos-ausentes/
durability. Inspired by artistic practises, designer Nicolás Marchiaro seeks to recontextualise fashion, with the idea of exhibiting clothing as if a piece of art. One of the key objectives is exploration of the use of local resources and DIY digital fabrication techniques.
This project arises as a response to the negative social and environmental impact of fast fashion. It explores alternatives where digital design and computerassisted fabrication tools play a key role.
Nicolás Marchiaro Artist and designer who combines fashion and architecture practises and techniques.
Throughout his more than 14 years of experience, he has explored has computerassisted design tools and 3D modelling can transform how the fashion industry produces, in order to find more sustainable methods. His work, inspired by conceptual art, seeks to challenge fast consumption trends through modular and experimental aesthetics.
Moreover, he is motivated by fashion's potential to transcend quick consumption and become a vehicle for artistic expression and cultural heritage.
https://espacioopen.com/trashy-hanger/
Trashy Hanger is a research project developed by Estudio Bokashi, where biomaterials are the main resource to replace one of the most common and discarded objects in the textile industry: hangers.
Beyond the environmental issues caused by this product, Trashy Hanger's intent is to develop a creative hanger system with a fun aesthetic that is, more than anything, functional. Thus, anyone interested in replacing their plastic hangers has the option to replicate the creation process.
To develop this project, the creators, Libe Kerroum and Laura Marchante, joined the sustainable fashion world with maker technology. In other words, they used digital fabrication resources to optimise the creation process and generate a material with the least waste possible.
Beyond generating an object that helps to reduce waste
creation, the project seeks to spark critical thought. After developing at Espacio Open, the Trashy Hanger project will be presented at the SaintEtienne Interna-tional Design Biennial 2025.
Estudio Bokashi
Formed by Libe Kerroum and Laura Marchante, Bokashi came about with the objective
of creating meeting spaces to share and debate the future of fashion in a creative way.
Bokashi's main intent is to foster experimentation and education around sustainable design, as well as to share alternatives and initiatives in the fields of biodesign, regenerative practises, and the circular economy.
The 12th International Creative Technologies Festival Maker Faire Bilbao was held in November 2024, with a programme bursting with activities that show the future of the most innovative technologies.
For two weeks, Espacio Open held over a dozen in-person activities in the former cookie factory Artiach, in Zorrotzaurre, intended to share creative technologies, design, and digital fabrication. In this 12th edition, the event boasted a broad programme revolving around building futures with emerging technologies, recovering ancestral knowledge from a maker's perspective, and digital fabrication tools for artistic creation. Like in previous years, all Maker Faire Bilbao activities were completely free of charge with prior registration. The Maker Faire Bilbao festival is supported by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia through Beaz and Bilbao Town Hall through Bilbao Ekintza. https://bilbao.makerfaire.com/
Under the framework of the European project Creative Europe Distributed Design and programming for the Maker Faire Bilbao festival, Vanessa Lorenzo organised the workshop (de)Futuribles Bio+AI during the festival's 2024 edition.
Technological innovations often lead us to fantastic futures, linked to a science fiction imaginary, or to complex and opaque tools that are difficult to understand.
However, emerging technologies have a significant social, political, and cultural impact that has a direct impact on us.
For this reason, the future built on them must be designed by different profiles,
ensuring that it meets society's diverse needs.
The initiative (de)Futuribles, driven by Vanessa Lorenzo, seeks to foster design processes based on the maker philosophy, with the intent of sparking critical thought and bringing emerging technologies to creative profiles. Within Maker Faire Bilbao, the researcher conducted a workshop focused on biotechnology. This activity combined open science, speculative design, and quick
prototyping, using emerging technologies like AI and bionics to create biocompatible prostheses.
The workshop used biohacking, gamification techniques,audio-visual storytelling, and tools like 3D scanning and quick prototyping. As a result, participants prototyped futuristic proposals like a tattoo capable of trapping solar energy based on the principles of photosynthesis, the design for a treatment plant inspired by hydroponics
and an implant capable of monitoring the health of children as they grow.
The objective of the process was to open minds to the possibilities of biotechnology and its social impacts.
The prototypes were later exhibited at the Gazte Bulegoa facilities, the Barakaldo Town Hall's centre intended for young people.
The objective was to show the potential of speculative design and spark a critical look at technologies. This
exhibition falls under the STEAM workshop series, promoted by the centre.
The driver behind the project (de)Futuribles, Vanessa Lorenzo aka Hybridoaa, is a multi-disciplinary researcher in science, art, and technology, engineer specialised in digital media, and STEAM coordinator. She has worked with the Swiss biohacking and European cultural community, developing collaborative projects in networks like
Hackteria, Utopiana Geneva and Hackuarium. As designer and hybrid researcher, Vanessa Lorenzo has training as a product design engineer and media designer and also forms part of the biohacking community (Hackuarium, Lausanne; Hackteria, Zurich; Wetlab HANGAR, Barcelona; Biopunk. kitchen, Berlin). She currently conducts workshops focused on maker thought, open-code philosophy, and speculative design methodologies.
https://espacioopen.com/def uturibles-futuro-proyectas/
ALEJANDRA BUENO
With a degree in Fine Arts and a PhD from the Art programme of the UPV/EHU, her background includes artistic creation, cultural management of exhibitions and events, and university teaching. With digital image and AI, her practise speculates with new representations of gender and identity. alejandrabueno.es
Specialised in cybersecurity, he has developed his professional profile in pentesting or identifying security vulnerabilities for companies. He is currently completing the programming bootcamp at Urduliz 42, under Fundación Telefónica.
IRATXE ACHA GAMBOA
Project developer, guide, and accompaniment for individuals in the process of creating new activities. She collaborates with the network Dreams for Action, which provides consulting for business development and training. https://dreamsforaction.com/
An expert in creative communication, with training in Communication and Advertising for creative sectors. She is founder of the strategic communication consulting firm Artevia, and of Mima Maker, an object creation line that blends traditional techniques and digital fabrication. artevia.com
MIKEL GUILLEN
Industrial Engineer with a Master's in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration. He works as R&D Manager at Tecnia Manufacturing Group, Madrid. In his facet as a maker, he is passionate about the potential of wearables, artificial intelligence applied to textiles, and 3D printing.
She holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid. She has participated in international exhibitions in France, Germany, and England. Her work is focused on researching visual arts and blending them with science and technology, especially in the field of bioart. Henarmartin.com
He holds a degree in Fine Arts, with studies in graphic arts, and a Master's in Cultural Management. He combines his work as Art professor with cultural management of art spaces, co-editing the publication EGIAR Aldizkaria, and researching photographic practise.
https://urtzicantocom.wordpress.com
She holds a degree in Biology and a Master's in Advanced Biology. Technician on scientific projects and committed to sharing science to benefit society, the environment, and equality. She is currently completing her doctorate at the Basque Institute of Research and Agrarian Development Neiker.
A computer expert passionate about emerging technologies and the maker movement. He works as an educator in digital literacy and collaborates on projects related to open source technologies. A resident of Ribera de Deusto, he actively participates in all editions of Maker Faire Bilbao and in other activities at the cultural centre.
AINHOA HILERA
With a degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development, her interest in designing virtual settings led her to study Visual Effects, developing 3D modelling knowledge. Thus, her professional profile blends the use of technologies with creativity.
Since their origins, humans have had a very close relationship with plants. At the Maker Faire Bilbao 2024 festival, one of the workshops was devoted to exploring ancestral knowledge related to the use of plants, with activist and co-founder of Essential Fam Xochitl Bernadette Moreno.
The workshop Creadoras Botánicas (Botanical Creators) delved into the connection with nature's first aid kit through two days of activities for highly diverse profiles, from people from the creative and design field to agriculturalists and plant lovers. At the workshop, participants explored plant properties, making dyes, teas, exfoliants, oils, and tinctures. They brought home a treasure in herb knowledge and handmade remedies.
During the workshop, participants were provided with tools from the Aromalab space in Fab Lab Bilbao, including devices to extract aromas and create tinctures. The two days of intense work combined a theoretical foundation on ancestral knowledge of plants and practical activities to carry out said techniques.
Xochitl Bernadette Moreno shared the properties of the main medicinal plants, such as chamomile, lavender, and calendula, discussing their uses, benefits, and possible precautions. As of this point, participants began exploring their properties. The second day was focused on herbal preparations, using Fab Lab Bilbao's tools. During the workshop, they put ancestral techniques into practise to make essential oils from medicinal plants, as well as body exfoliants. Finally, participants also learned to create tinctures, a technique to preserve the main active ingredients of the plants with alcohol.
The objective of this workshop was to provide knowledge on how to use plants to improve health and well-being, joining ancestral wisdom with the principles of open knowledge and the maker culture.
https://espacioopen.com/creadoras-botanicas-maker-faire/
Xochitl Bernadette Moreno
Of Mexican and Australian origin, Xochitl is co-founder of the project Essential Food and Medicine (EFAM), headquartered in Oakland, California. This organisation provides support to unhoused individuals with a comprehensive focus on empowerment through the medicinal use of plants, thereby recovering ancestral techniques from indigenous communities and encouraging appreciation of their knowledge. Her work with unhoused people has been covered in features by media outlets like The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
One of the activities that sparks the greatest interest in family audiences are the workshops that introduce creative technologies for all ages. These workshops are intended to awaken interest in the potential of technologies in a fun way and from an early age.
In 2024, 11 workshops for children and families were carried out, with a total of 140 participants. Registration for the workshops was entirely free of cost, like all the activities at Maker Faire Bilbao. They drew huge interest, given that all spots were filled just a few days after launching.
https://bilbao.makerfaire.com/
A workshops especially designed for the littlest ones to learn about electronics in a very simple way by welding for the first time. With a battery, LED light, and a tilt sensor, participants built a fun lamp that they could take home as a souvenir.
The workshop taught participants how conductivity works in a fun and easy way.
The Robot Blinky workshop is an activity for beginners with soldering and creative technologies. Participants learned to solder LED diodes to a robot-shaped board that follows the iconic Maker Faire image.
During a 2-hour activity, attendees made a circuit for a small robot with eyes that blink.
During this workshop, intended for audiences of all ages, participants learned to create an electronic circuit with DrawDIO, a synthesiser pen that transforms the body's resistance into sound frequencies.
Focused on both adults and children, this workshop taught participants to solder, understand how conductivity works, and learn the components in this simple system.
The Maker Faire Bilbao 2024 festival led an activity that put the finishing touch on the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project, developed at Fab Lab Bilbao for the past three years. This project consists of scanning and printing the faces of residents of the Ribera de Deusto neighbourhood with the open-code 3D ceramic printer Jetclay.
After scanning over thirty participants at different calls in our Fab Lab Bilbao facilities, a final event was held at Maker Faire Bilbao to present the project. Espacio Open called on residents to participate in an auzolan to build the exhibition together. For an entire day, residents, workers, and people related to the former cookie factory and other industrial spaces in the neighbourhood came to the cultural centre's cafeteria, Jardín Secreto Bilbao, to collaborate in placing the ceramic sculptures.
After this day of collective work, the Muro de la Memoria exhibition was officially inaugurated, and it may now be toured. Each bust is accompanied by its story, thereby collective building the neighbourhood's memory. https://espacioopen.com/muro-memoria-maker-faire-bilbao/
He came to the neighbourhood in 1996 with his wife and son. He soon became very actively involved in the neighbourhood. He was president of the Festival Commission and designed many posters and the Jai Batzordea logo. In addition to being an illustrator, he is known for his passion for horseback riding and has organised horse rides during the neighbourhood festival.
María Ángeles is the 6th generation of the Piris family, which has always lived in la Ribera. Her grandfather was a builder and constructed many of the homes in the neighbourhood today, turning small houses into buildings to accommodate new families arriving at the time. María Ángeles has not only spent her entire life in the neighbourhood, but also worked at Toldos Bilbao Goyoaga, a historical company in la Ribera.
He came to live in La Ribera after marrying María Jesús, who was born in the neighbourhood. His mother-in-law, Aurora, made cookies at Artiach, and his father-in-law worked at Vicinay. Together, they wore costumes every year for the neighbourhood festival. What he most likes about la Ribera is the family environment, where everyone knows everyone.
Alicia began working at the old Artiach factory in 1965. She spent 6 years there until she married Gerardo, whom she met at the factory, when she had to quit her job. Since then, she has always lived in la Ribera. As she remembers, there was everything at the time: supermarket, hair salons, bakeries... Now she likes to stroll and go to Bizinahi to have coffee and do gym classes.
He came to live in la Ribera in 1998. Since then, he has felt a close relationship to the neighbourhood. He was one of the first to put a stand in the Open Your Ganbara flea markets organised by Espacio Open since 2009. Over the years, he has actively participated in every edition of Maker Faire Bilbao and other activities hosted by the cultural centre.
Luis was born in Alcaucín, Malaga. He came to live in la Ribera de Deusto in 1962, looking for employment after his military service. He chose this neighbourhood because his brother already lived in la Ribera, and he began working at the old Ona milk factory. This is where he met his wife, originally from a town in Granada. Together, they moved into number 42 of la Ribera de Deusto.
Javier came to la Ribera de Deusto with his wife Izaskun in 1984. Since then, he has always lived in the same neighbourhood, where they had 2 children. They first lived in number 9, next to the old bar La Bodeguilla, and Javier played on the futsal team of the same name. An architect by profession, he worked on renovating several buildings in la Ribera before retiring in 2024.
Miriam brought her stage arts workshop to the first floor of the cookie factory in 2013. She also participated by regularly opening her shop in the Open Your Ganbara circular economy market when it was held in the cookie factory gallery.
Carlos joined the Deusto Rowing Club as a rower when it was still located in Ribera de Deusto. Today, he still participates in the Senior section, the only rower from la Ribera who is still active. The club moved in 2018 to new facilities in Deusto, but it is still a sport with deep roots in la Ribera.
He came from Cameroon in the mid-2010s. A welder by profession, many of his metal works can be viewed in the neighbourhood. In addition to collaborating with Espacio Open, Eric was professionally associated with factory organisations like Guretxoko Skate Park and Deco Publicitario, always lighting us up with his smile and joy.
A resident woodworker in the Cookie Factory, Javi already had his shop in the Factory when the Open Your Ganbara market began. "When I saw all the people who came, I thought, I want to do that, too, and I started opening my door every Sunday."
Jaione spent her entire childhood in la Ribera. Although she left to live in Basurto as an adult, she always felt closely linked to the neighbourhood. "We were all like a family, all the doors were always open," she recalls. She still has friends from that period, when they participated in the Basque dance and brass group at church establishments, and she comes every weekend.
The youngest of 5 siblings, Oscar has always been very integrated into the Ribera. His disability has not prevented him from participating like any other in activities from a young age, first as an altar boy in the church and then in the neighbourhood festival. He as the first differently-abled person to dance the Aurresku of honour at the Bilbao Town Hall during the Semana Grande (Big Week).
Original co-founder of Espacio Open along with Nerea, he was one of the first drivers behind the first Open Your Ganbara market in 2009. A lighting and stage technician, his light displays can be viewed in several areas around the Cookie Factory, as well as in other prestigious venues and events around the Villa and all of Euskadi.
She belongs to the 7th generation of a family that always lived in la Ribera, and she still lives in the house where her grandfather was born. Gotxone remembers going down to the park every afternoon after school to play with her friends, in a neighbourhood bursting with life: a chemist, hardware store, Aurora's haberdashery... and the cookie factory workers met in the church square to chat.
A visitor and user of many of the activities conducted at Espacio Open, he discovered the potential of technologies with the Maker Faire Bilbao workshops, where he created his first technological project. He is fascinated by Artiach's creative environment and the chocolate milkshakes at the Jardín Secreto.
Founder of Deco Publicitario, he is the first to arrive at the factory in the morning. His work was essential to keep the Artiach building in liveable condition over the past few decades. A lifelong family company that holds the spirit of the island's traditional industries.
A lifelong Deusto resident, he opened the company Accesorios Navales Mar-Fran in 1983 in one of Zorrotzaurre's pavilions. There are not many industries around him left, but his company continues to operate, thanks to his specialisation and experience.
One of the first cultural players in the neighbourhood, she encouraged cultural projects to come to the Artiach Factory as a founder of Espacio Open in 2009. She works to preserve Artiach's memory, where over 600 women worked, along with the cookie maker's solidary spirit.
A journalist of Moroccan, Scandinavian, Mediterranean, and Basque origin, he worked in news media before turning the Cookie Factory into the great project of over a decade of his life. He joined Espacio Open in 2012 as creative director.
Catalan by birth, she came to Bilbao over 15 years ago and has always worked in social and cultural communication. She joined Espacio Open as Communication Director in 2021, and since then, has felt very close to la Ribera's history.
At 17, Francis began working at the Artiach Factory as cookie maker with the idea of staying for 3 months but ended up remaining until retirement. She worked for 50 years making cookies on a team consisting almost entirely of women. Her companions practically became her family.
In charge of factory maintenance, Chamorro started working at the factory in 1984 and was manager of building maintenance until he retired. During all this time, he has seen the factory transform: first, into industrial venues, and then into spaces for cultural and creative initiatives. Without him, none of this would have been possible.
Her grandmother was born at number 55 of La Ribera de Deusto, and she is a lifelong resident of the neighbourhood. In 1982, she opened a ceramics shop with another 3 friends at number 64 in la Ribera, Tresnak, located right next to the Artiach office where cookie cuttings were sold. She is still "in love with the black-andwhite La Ribera, when it was bursting with life."
Fashion maker, co-founder of Confecciones Bilsey in 1988, the 1st women's cooperative in the former Artiach factory. Mariluz joined through her sister, María José. "We have worked a lot, and we hung in there like warriors when work was slow," she remembers. She has not retired and is still working at another shop, "I truly miss them a great deal because we had such a great time together."
Miguel moved to La Ribera in 1998, so he knew it when the factories were already gone, and the neighbourhood had entered into a period of decadence. "When I arrived, it had been abandoned, it was in crisis," he explains. Even so, he fell in love with the neighbourhood's peacefulness and personality.
Anabel belongs to one of the most deeply-rooted families in la Ribera. She has participated in neighbourhood activities since a very young age, first in the festivals, and then for many years in the Neighbourhood Association, where she acted as chair. Today, she is still working to improve the neighbourhood and very actively collaborates in caring for the neighbourhood cat community, in addition to other actions.
Fashion maker, co-founder of Confecciones Bilsey in 1988, the 1st women's cooperative in the former Artiach factory. She began working as a fashion maker at 14 and did not stop until she retired. When she joined the factory, "there was a print shop, three carpenters, a varnisher...until it started to decline, and in the last years, we were almost alone on the floor," she recalls.
When he was young he lived in Olabeaga. He worked with his father and his brother on the boat that crossed the river to bring the cookie makers from Olabeaga shore to the Ribera. After marrying, he came to live in la Ribera and began working at the Euskalduna shipyards. For years, he has very actively participated in the la Ribera neighbourhood association.
Fashion maker, co-founder of Confecciones Bilsey in 1988, the 1st women's cooperative in the former Artiach factory. For Azucena, the shop was a very special place, and her coworkers were like a family. "We spent more time together than with our actual families," she explains. They opened the shop in 1988 and did not stop working until 2023, when they finally decided to close.
Rosi, an Artiach cookie maker, remembers the factory building as one of the most important spaces in her life. "It was enormous and lovely, with huge windows and views over the Ribera del Deusto.” As she explains, the cookie makers were always fighters and solidary, always willing to defend their coworkers' labour rights. They were also very happy and infused the neighbourhood with life.
Fashion maker, co-founder of Confecciones Bilsey in 1988, the 1st women's cooperative in the former Artiach factory. María José remembers her years at the shop with great affection. "We worked a lot, but we had a very good time." When they opened the shop, the ambience at the factory was very good. "At Christmas, we all gathered to make our famous lunch," she explains.
An IT engineer and a secondary school IT and technology teacher, Igor has lived his entire life in the Ribera de Deusto neighbourhood. He has participated and participates very actively in different neighbourhood associations to defend the identity and future of La Ribera.
Fashion maker, co-founder of Confecciones Bilsey in 1988, the 1st women's cooperative in the former Artiach factory. She worked as fashion maker for 35 years in one of the shops in the old Artiach factory with her coworkers. "We threw caution to the wind, we set up the shop, and we started working," she recalls.
Rosa was born at number 24 De la Ribera. She lived there until she was 8, when her parents went to Deusto. From this period, she especially remembers the ambience of the streets. After living for a few years in London, Rosa returned to the neighbourhood with her Australian husband and children. Since retirement, she participates in the neighbourhood association.
Mayor of Bilbao from 2014 to 2015 and Councilman of Bilbao Town Hall from 1991 to 2015. An architect by profession, he was involved in the process of transforming the cookie factory into industrial shops in the 80s and small entrepreneurs remember his support in making businesses thrive on the island. Ibon Areso has always defended the importance of cultural and creative industries to create value in the city.
The Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project would not have been possible without the participation of residents and people associate with the former cookie factory and other industrial spaces. For this reason, we would like to thank those who form part of this exhibition for their willingness to participate. They all contributed their time and passion, coming to Espacio Open's facilities to be scanned by our team and attend the different calls we put out over the course of 2024.
We are thrilled to have such a large, varied group of participants to represent Ribera de Deusto's unique identity, including the cookie makers from Artiach, factory workers, families of many generations born in the neighbourhood, as well as newcomers excited to build a new future, creative players who breathed new life into empty spaces, and people who have worked for many years to improve life in the neighbourhood. Eskerrik asko!
Under the Maker Faire Bilbao festival, the results from the Maker Ekintzaile 2024 Creation residencies were presented at an event where creators displayed their projects, developed at Espacio Open's digital fab lab.
This Creative residency exhibition event, with the participation of the artists, was the kick-off for the Maker Faire Bilbao 2024 festival. During the show, one could visit different interactive installations and experiment live with the creations, as well as discover the creation process from the artists first-hand. The exhibition included interactive projects like a sensory installation that tours the different smells of Euskadi, from the aromas of nature to the effects of pollution; a visual project that recreates 3D shadows in real time; and an audio-visual installation formed by soundscapes and visual expressions. After the inauguration event, the exhibition remained open to the public 15-24 November.
Maker Faire Bilbao
Within the festival, two sessions were held to present the projects. During the morning and by invitation, there was a session for professionals in the Cultural and Creative Industries, public administrations, and news media. There were representatives from cultural centres like the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum and Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao Ekintza, Bilbao Town Hall, and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, higher education centres in the Basque Country, and more. The event also included a tour of other creative projects in the Artiach ecosystem.
The second session, during the afternoon-evening, was open to the general public and more festive. After the presentations, attendees took an up-close look and experimented with the projects, proving the potential of joining digital fabrication tools, art, and maker-movement work methods.
https://espacioopen.com/inauguracion-de-la-exposicion-maker-ekintzaile/
Just like in years prior, Espacio Open was one of the collaborators at the Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week 2024 event, devoted to design as a tool for urban and social transformation, held by Bilbao Town Hall and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
In its 10th year, BBDW was focused on design to care for people and the environment, under the slogan "Biotik Design, Territorios para la vida (Biotik Design, Territories for Life)," curated by Elisa de los Reyes, from Pez Estudio. The Maker Faire Bilbao festival participated in this programme based on work related to collaborative communities, open creativity, experimental innovation, and building equality and diversity. This focus took shape through activities that foster the use of open technologies and open source between very different profiles, breaking down technological barriers, the critical focus of technologies, and boosting activities that prove the potential of maker philosophy to meet social and environmental challenges.
During design week, the Creation residencies were inaugurated, where residents displayed their work processes and the result of their residencies, exploring the intersection between art, culture, design, and creative technologies from different fields.
Under Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week, Espacio Open also participated in the Partekatu event, a special day to close off design week. Here, they shared everything they had experienced over the course of the week in the atrium of the Ensanche Building. During this event to round off Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week, Espacio Open shared the development and results of the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project, driven by Fab Lab Bilbao, and participated alongside one of the participants, a resident of the island, who shared their experience first-hand to conclude the Design Week.
The Muro de la Memoria project came about in late 2022 to preserve the history of Ribera de Deusto through its residents, using open-code 3D ceramic printing. Over the past two years, the initiative has grown, inviting more and more residents to participate. In 2024, the exhibition of ceramic pieces was inaugurated in Jardín Secreto Bilbao, the cultural centre's cafeteria.
https://espacioopen.com/espacio-open-bilbao-bizkaia-design-week-2024/
At Espacio Open, we foster and collaborate on programmes for creation, training, and entrepreneurship that are related to social and cultural innovation. Throughout 2024, we promoted and participated in cultural initiatives designed to create value in our local surroundings and to build networks with similar projects through our digital fabrication laboratory, and also through the centre's different lines of action. We also promoted an alternative weekly leisure programme, with free concerts and activities to support up-and-coming artists. https://espacioopen.com/proyectos/
Proyecto Valla (Billboard Project) is an Espacio Open initiative that consists of promoting artistic interventions on the former billboard located on the exterior façade of the bar Jardín Secreto Bilbao, in the former Artiach factory. In 2024, a new action was carried out, through a collaboration with the higher education centre IED Kunsthal, located on Zorrotzaurre island.
The proposal was carried out with students from the Higher School of Design IED Kunsthal. They were responsible for conceiving and developing a new design for the billboard, under IED Kunsthal's Workshop Week activities. Students executed the Sempiterno intervention, which seeks to reclaim the neighbourhood's memory and the legacy of the former factory. Sempiterno means "will last forever; having had a beginning, it shall not have an end."
From 5-9 February, the team, consisting of 13 students, led by the Fiasco Collective, the design studio Cuchillo, and Espacio Open, worked intensely to carry out the collective artistic action. The results were presented at the conclusion event of Workshop Week 2024 on 9 February 2024. The installation will continue to be exhibited until the next call for action is put out in 2025.
Proyecto Valla is an idea that Fab Lab Bilbao drove to take back the unused advertising space as an artistic format. The initiative consisted of turning two advertising billboards 16 metres long and 3 metres high into an infrastructure available to artist and creator collectives. Proyecto Valla was first activated under the Maker Faire Bilbao 2023 festival, with the intervention "Inauguración en Blanco (Blank Inauguration)," by the architecture collective Fiasco. https://espacioopen.com/inauguracion-proyecto-valla/
The Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project is an initiative fostered by Fab Lab Bilbao to join digital fabrication technologies and the neighbourhood memory of Ribera de Deusto, which is currently undergoing a great transformation.
The project kicked off in late 2022, under the Maker Faire Bilbao festival workshop programme. That year, a group of neighbourhood residents and factory and traditional or creative industry shop workers were invited to have their busts scanned and printed with 3D ceramic printing technologies. The project continued to move forward, and the following year, the invitation was extended to more people related to Ribera de Deusto's recent history.
After these activities related to the creative technologies festival, the Memory Wall project took on its own life as part of the Euskadi hub of the international platform Jetclay. This space, which is part of Fab Lab Bilbao, fosters proposals related to 3D ceramic printing by using opencode Jetclay tools.
Through 2024, Espacio Open put out a monthly call for residents and people related in one way or another to the neighbourhood to participate in the initiative. The third Friday of every month, they came to Fab Lab Bilbao's facilities for the Jetclay team to scan and 3D print their busts. Thus, over thirty people were invited to participate. In addition to immortalising their heads in a life-size sculpture for the Memory Wall exhibition, each participant brought home a small-format version as a souvenir.
Located next to the river, the Espacio Open cultural centre's cafeteria welcomes free musical events and fun activities every week, designed to offer a cultural alternative in the city.
Jardín Secreto Bilbao has a kitchen that is always open, to have a drink or dinner Friday through Sunday, as well as a stage with live music on Fridays. It has also been a film set and home to thematic events. With unique decoration, the Jardín Secreto creates a very special ambiance to enjoy a pizza, dishes to share, or a delicious cocktail in good company.
Throughout the year, Jardín Secreto Bilbao has celebrated music, art, and new creators on a weekly basis, like the Vintage Club concerts, the Freedom Jam Sessions, exhibitions, and events. What is more, in 2024 the Memory Wall exhibition was inaugurated, with sculptures of residents from the Ribera de Deusto neighbourhood. It can be visited on Jardín Secreto's outdoor patio.
https://espacioopen.com/jardin-secreto/
The second and fourth Friday of every month, live music lovers have an appointment with the Freedom Jam Session. These events, which are totally free, are open to anyone who wants to go up on stage and play, creating improvised music on the fly with others.
Under the slogan "No pressure, no rules, just fun," the Freedom Jam Sessions are intended for all levels and styles, with the premise that anyone can participate. To this end, instruments are provided, although musicians can also bring their own. Espacio Open's jam sessions have a base team of professional musicians, as well as technicians to ensure proper operation. Participants of all kinds can join: the youngest people in the house, students and teachers from music schools and conservatories, tourists passing through town, and amateurs and lovers of live music of all kinds.
Since they began in 2023, the Freedom Jam Sessions have only grown, creating a community of music lovers around the sessions, always open to new participants. To this end, the intent is to continue twice per month in 2025 and to provide more activities related to live improv music. Freedom Jam Session events begin at 20h in the Jardín Secreto Bilbao, the cafeteria of the Espacio Open cultural centre, the second and fourth Friday of every month.
Every month, Espacio Open holds the Vintage Club events, an appointment with new creators and live music. The initiative was launched in early 2023. Over the past two years, around 40 artists have performed with this open and free initiative.
Vintage Club is a proposal that came about to offer a space for emerging artists to display their creations and perform live, mainly focused on local musical artists. The intent is also to organise free events as an entertainment alternative to discover the latest trends in music and creation. Vintage Bilbao concerts are held the first Friday of every month at Jardín Secreto Bilbao, the cafeteria at the Espacio Open cultural centre. All artists receive economic compensation, paid by Espacio Open, in exchange for participating in these events.
Espacio Open intends to create a network and a community to participate in the current ecosystem of the Artiach factory and the island we call home, to create synergies, and to keep connecting dots across the city, offering a free alternative for cultural activities in Bilbao. For this reason, these musical events will continue throughout 2025, with new performances.
VINTAGE CLUB GROUPS
1.Mitto Koronkon & Javier Slang Duo that mixes rap, trap, electronica, reggaeton, and drill.
2. Reeler Band
Alternative rock band with influences from Radiohead, Blur, and Pavement
3. Marmitako Trap
A quartet from Urduliz that mixes hip hop, trap, and R&B beats.
4. Recoveco
A funk group with songs by Rex Orange County, Erykah Badu, etc...
5. Swamp
A bluegrass, Americana, and country trio with violin, double bass, and ukulele.
6. Deep sea monk Folk rock group from Biscay born in 2020.
7. Goxo Lima They mix reggae, pop rock, and folk in their own songs and covers
8. Contacto Directo Alternative rock quartet from Bilbao with lots of rhythm
9. Mambo express Quintet from Bilbao that blends ska, reggae, and rock, with a cumbia rhythmic base.
During the summer, Espacio Open holds an alternative and free entertainment activity with live concerts, vintage fashion, musical events, and jam sessions. During July and August, the Summers at the Factory programme included activities every weekend.
The purpose of this initiative is to offer a sustainable, free entertainment alternative during weekends in July and August, with a complete programme including live music, the secondhand Vintage Bilbao fashion shop, and the Jardín Secreto Bilbao cafeteria. What is more, people who came to the former factory during the summer saw the creative projects underway at the Fab Lab Bilbao digital fabrication laboratory, and specifically from the Maker Ekintzaile creation residencies programme.
https://espacioopen.com/veranos-en-la-fabrica-2024/
In February 2024, Espacio Open welcomed the first edition of the Blossom Micro Folk Festival. This musical event brought eight up-and-coming groups with an original format that seeks to create an intimate ambience with short 20-minute concerts.
The festival, in its first edition, was entirely free and held at Jardín Secreto Bilbao, the Espacio Open cultural centre's bar. The invited bands were Al Heron, Krusak, Dreamy Bones, Jon Moma, Ziza Folks, The Last Hidden Fox, Lorelei Green, and Taghufi. The event sought to display the rich local music scene at this intimate micro festival, introducing local folk and indie groups during intense 20-minute performances. This way, the audience had the chance to discover new sounds in a welcoming space, illuminated by gentle lighting, fire, and candles. After this first edition's success, the festival will return in 2025. https://espacioopen.com/espacio-open-acoge-la-1a-edicion-de-blossom-micro-folk-festival/
In recent years, Espacio Open has become a set for films, documentaries, TV shows, and corporate events. Located in one of the most emblematic buildings of Bilbao's industrial history, the building offers great opportunities to recreate scenes from different time periods, giving free rein to the magic of film.
At the bar Jardín Secreto Bilbao, part of the last film by director David P. Sañudo was shot, "Los últimos románticos," based on the book by Txani Rodríguez of the same name. It was also the stage for several episodes of the series Intimidad on Netflix and the Mikel Rueda film "El doble más quince," starring Maribel Verdú. Additionally, the factory's wide, open spaces welcomed filming for documentaries like Marea Laranja by EITB, and television shows such as Órbita Laika by TVE and Aquí y Ahora, Ur Handitan, and Nos echamos a la calle, by EITB. https://espacioopen.com/rodajes/
Our cafeteria Jardín Secreto Bilbao also hosted corporate events and shooting wrap parties, professional events, presentations, celebrations, and auditions. As a space for filming and events, the facilities and services include:
Over 1,300m2 of open space.
300m2 of garden next to the river.
Catering service.
Concert and presentation area with a technical crew.
Hire and sale of Vintage Bilbao wardrobe with over 5,000 items for the audio-visual sector.
Personalised options depending on needs.
Within the circular economy and social entrepreneurship line, Espacio Open has started up the Vintage Bilbao project, a second-hand clothing shop that we open every weekend. This initiative is the continuation of the popular Sunday market we promoted from 2009 through 2019, Open Your Ganbara.
As opposed to fast fashion, we lean into sustainable consumption, with over 500m2 of vintage clothing and accessories. Vintage Bilbao has received acknowledgement from the Basque Government through Ihobe, selecting it as an example of sustainability. It has also participated in activities to foster the circular economy, like Fast Revolution Spain. Since it opened in 2022, it has continued to grow, creating networks with initiatives related to sustainable fashion, as well as educational and creative projects.
The Vintage Bilbao shop opens Friday through Sunday at the old Artiach cookie factory. It also has the online shop, www.vintagebilbao.com, with a selection of the brand's garments. Every year, nearly 3,500 kg of fashion garments are recycled through the Vintage Bilbao shop, thereby saving the planet over 80 tonnes of CO2. https://vintagebilbao.com/
Over the years, Espacio Open has created several collaborative networks with local cultural and educational institutions. One of them is the Higher School of Design, Fashion, and Art IED Kunsthal, also present on Zorrotzaurre island. Together, we have driven many projects to create enriching educational experiences all while making a positive return to our local environment.
In 2024, we began a new collaboration through the fashion and circular economy project Vintage Bilbao. Students from the school began using Fab Lab Bilbao's facilities as a space for collective work and a lab to develop their projects. This activity also provided a connection with the creation residencies active at our Fab Lab Bilbao laboratory, thereby linking between fashion and other artistic disciplines.
During the second semester of 2024, a total of 20 Fashion Degree students studying "Introduction to Styling" and "Anthropology and Sociology of Fashion" worked every week at Espacio Open's facilities. During the second phase of collaboration, the intent is to broaden the agreement to other disciplines at the school related to design and creation.
https://espacioopen.com/nueva-colaboracion-kunsthal-2024/
Espacio Open is partner on different European projects related to urban innovation, open knowledge, and social innovation. With these projects, we attempt to achieve a positive impact on our local surroundings and extend the local creative ecosystem to Europe and abroad.
The European project Horizon 2020 T-Factor focuses on exploring the potential of temporary uses of space to achieve more inclusive, sustainable, and living urban environments. Espacio Open is one of 24 international partners.
The project was carried out from 2020 to 2024 and includes starting up pilots in six European cities: Amsterdam, Bilbao, Kaunas, Lisbon, London, and Milan. In its last year, the T-Factor consortium focused on starting up prototypes for temporary town planning and activities to share the process' results, intended both for professional and academic settings and for citizens. The T-Factor Bilbao pilot was coordinated by Bilbao Ekintza, Tecnalia, and Espacio Open, and was focused on Zorrotzaurre - La Ribera de Deusto. This neighbourhood is undergoing a transformation process, and foundational cultural and creative initiatives have emerged during the long meanwhile.
Distrito de Camden, Londres
Ayuntamiento de Dortmund
ANCI Toscana
Bilbao Ekintza
Ayuntamiento de Lodz
Kaunas Fortess Park
University of the Arts London
Tongji University Hong Kong
Kaunas Technology University
Aalborg University
Politecnico di Milano
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
TU Dortmund University
NOVA University Lisbon
Lodz University
Plusvalue
Tecnalia I-Propeller
LAND Italia
Waag
Futuribile
Friche la Belle de Mai
LAMA
Espacio Open
Under the T-Factor project's Bilbao pilot, three main goals were set: to drive collaboration between educational communities and creative initiatives, to explore new, more participatory governance models, and to share tools to facilitate the temporary use of space for cultural, social, and community projects.
One of the pilot's main cornerstones consisted of developing three prototypes of temporary town planning in collaboration with local schools of higher education: Mondragon Unibertsitatea, IED Kunsthal, and the University of Deusto. Over 60 students, educators, local creative players, and international experts from the T-Factor consortium participated in designing and constructing these 3 prototypes, located in Ribera de Deusto:
Erriberritu: a space to exchange objects and resources, designed and built by students of Global Digital Humanities at Mondragon Unibertsitatea. The intent of this space is to give new life to objects no longer in use, to foster reuse, and to promote the principles of circular economy at neighbourhood level.
Green Chimney: A green structure created with recycled elements and biodegradable materials by students of the Industrial Design Engineering Degree at the University of Deusto. This temporary urban furniture seeks to create new public spaces for co-existence and to foster biodiversity.
Billboard: proposal for an artistic intervention on a former large-sized advertising stand. IED Kunsthal students executed an installation as part of their learning process, based on the neighbourhood's post-industrial memory and the ongoing urban re-development.
Prototypes were developed with the participation of local and international experts: Godot Studio, Studio Petit Muller, Technische Universität Dortmund, University of the Arts London, ANCI Toscana, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, and LAND Italia. https://zorrotzaurre.t-factor.eu/
The former cookie factory hosted the Erribera Zirkular Fest event, held under the Horizon 2020 T-Factor project to promote the circular economy and creative use of public space.
The event included workshops on garment recycling, patch creation, and customisation of old boxes. Additionally, attendees discovered the new Ezinbestekoak space, furniture designed for cats and other non-human inhabitants of the island, through the collaboration between the Abad Design studio and the group of residents who cares for the neighbourhood's feline colony. These open and free activities aimed to share the temporary town planning prototypes created under the T-Factor Bilbao pilot. https://espacioopen.com/erribera-zirkular-fest/
The Eurocities Bilbao event "Ciudades en transición: hacia un futuro sostenible, inclusivo y próspero (Cities in Transition: toward a sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous future)," held 23-24 October, gathered European Union leaders to reflect on the role of cities in addressing great global challenges.
Espacio Open participated in the event Innovation Districts in the Eurocities forum, where European representatives discovered the case of Zorrotzaurre island. During the event, the Bilbao pilot under the T-Factor project was presented, along with a guided tour of Espacio Open's facilities.
The event had the following participants: Eva Salcedo, manager of Invest Bilbao - Bilbao Ekintza, Kristina Ullmannová, Manager of Public Space at Prague Institute of Planning and Development; Dario Malmo, Project Manager at LAMA Agency, Adam Thorpe, researcher at University of Arts of London; Francesca Foglieni, researcher at Politecnico di Milano; Asier Larrinaga, from Bilbao Ekintza, Jorge García from Tecnalia Research Center, and Karim Asry from Espacio Open.
https://espacioopen.com/eurocities-economic-developmentforum/
Representatives from the European Commission came to discover the ecosystem of cultural and educational projects in La Ribera de Deusto - Zorrotzaurre. The tour, held on 13 and 14 June 2024, sought to introduce the temporary town planning prototypes developed on the island under the Bilbao pilot for the European project Horizon 2020 TFactor (2020-2024).
The group from the European Commission, composed of Emanuela de Menna, policy officer for cultural heritage; Cristina Farinha, researcher and expert in the creative economy from the Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency – European Commission; and Alexander Tölle, researcher specialising in urban strategies and adviser on European projects, explored the prototypes as well as the local cultural and creative organisations in Zorrotzaurre that took part in the pilot’s development.
Thus, the Bilbao pilot and the creative ecosystem on Zorrotzaurre were selected as an example of success in how creative industries and temporary uses of space can create value in empty urban spaces. Moreover, the tour included a work session at the Espacio Open cultural centre, where T-Factor partners presented the results of the Horizon 2020 project, which ends in 2024, to European Commission representatives. https://espacioopen.com/comision-europea-visita-ecosistema-creativo-zorrotzaurre/
Emanuela de Menna, policy officer for cultural heritage, European Commission.
Cristina Farinha, expert in the creative economy, EACEA, European Commission.
Alexander Tölle, expert on urban strategies and adviser on European projects.
Creative Europe Distributed Design is a European project that brings together cultural and creative players to drive distributed design initiatives and Espacio Open is part of this network. Through the intersection between the maker movement, digital fabrication, and design, Distributed Design seeks to boost innovative and sustainable design and fabrication practises.
OpenDot Pakhuis De Zwijger
Re:Publica Maker
Politecnico de Lisboa
Happylab Vienna
Fab Lab Budapest
Ars Longa
P2P Lab
Polifactory Politecnico di Milano/ Polifactory
SPLOT
Metalab
Museum of Architecture and Design
Knowledge Center of Vestmannaeyjar
Global Innovation Gathering
Fab City Foundation
Global Innovation Gathering
Danish Design Center
Espacio Open
From 26 October through 5 November, Espacio Open participated in the Vienna Design Week congress with the European project Distributed Design, in which it is a partner. Under the framework of this prestigious design week, we collaborated in the Jetclay Academy 3D ceramic printing workshop, where attendees fabricated a column by using Jetclay's open code printers in collaboration with Fab Lab Budapest.
During Vienna Design Week, we also attended the conference event and annual general assembly of the European project, funded through the programme Creative Europe, as part of the consortium Distributed Design.
In 2024, we began a new collaboration with the project Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, a transnational exchange programme that provides young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to learn from already-established business organisations and learn the skills they need to run a small- or medium-sized company.
Under this European Commission programme, Tania Virchenko began working with us in October 2024. This young Ukrainian entrepreneur is interested in driving a cultural café project in Bilbao. To acquire specific training in the sector beforehand, she joined the crew at our cultural centre's cafeteria, Jardín Secreto Bilbao. The process, 6 months in duration, allows Tania to work in a real setting where she can develop both skills related to hospitality and managing cultural events. The agreement was executed through the Foundation Equipo Humano, the European Commission's official intermediary organisation to manage the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) programme. https://espacioopen.com/colaboramos-programa-erasmus-young-entrepreneurs/
Within our visiting programme, in 2024 we were visited by universities, technological centres, public institutions, and creative agents from all around the world to discover Espacio Open's projects and our digital fabrication laboratory, Fab Lab Bilbao. In total, over 100 professional visitors in 18 guided tours came to visit throughout the year. https://espacioopen.com/visitas/
Representatives of the University of the Arts London (UAL) visited Espacio Open to learn about our project in depth, as part of a journey to explore Bilbao's creative ecosystem. The delegation consists of Steve Cross, dean at London College of Communication (LCC), Tom Webb, director of International Relations at LCC, and Aliya Sorgen, Manager of Global Networks and Mobility at UAL. September 2024.
The University Foundation of Innovation and Development at the University of Havana visited Espacio Open as part of the project to create a new Urban Social Laboratory in the Cuban capital. Four researchers from the Foundation came to discover Fab Lab Bilbao to learn keys that could be useful in the process of creating the Cuban laboratory. July 2024.
The artists Xiaolin and Benoît Hamet visited Espacio Open under the Unesco's Creative Cities Network project. The initiative is part of a creative residency that connects these two artists from Angoulême (France) and Nanjing (China) under the title "A world tour of creativity." Both artists graphically documented their itinerary, and the results will be collected in a graphic publication and an exhibition at the UN headquarters in Paris. February 2024.
As part of the entrepreneurship programme promoted by the consulting firm Designthinking.gal, a group of workers from the Galician company Finsa came to discover Espacio Open's project. The purpose of the tour was to learn about alternative business models based on social and cultural innovation. October 2024.
Representatives from the European Commission came to discover the ecosystem of cultural and educational projects in La Ribera de Deusto. The tour was intended to present temporary town planning prototypes developed on the island by students from three Basque universities over the course of 2023-2024, under the European project Horizon 2023 T-Factor. June 2024.
Anupam Yog is managing partner of Singapore XDG Labs, devoted to research to move toward healthier urban habitats. The urban researcher, participating in the organisation of WRLDCTY Global Forum for Urban Innovation, visited Espacio Open as part of an explorational journey organised by Metropoli30. July 2024.
2nd-year students of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economy Degree at the University of Deusto and University Ramon Llull (Barcelona) visited Espacio Open under the tours organised by both schools. At the event, more than thirty students learned the factory's recent memory and the creative projects on the island. February 2024.
As part of an explorational journey, the SpaceTime team wanted to discover our digital fabrication laboratory, Fab Lab Bilbao, as well as the projects we have underway. SpaceTime is a not-for-profit creation space, managed by the community and focused on artistic creation, technology, and science. August 2024.
Combustible is an initiative designed to support independent cultural creation, with almost 20 years of experience in the field of culture. The Combustible team visited Espacio Open under the European project ACME+, Art and Culture in Erasmus+ Mobility. January 2024.
A group of students at the Public School of Professional Training Arte Diez, located in Bilbao, came to discover Espacio Open and the creative ecosystem at the former Artiach cookie factory. The centre was especially interested in touring Fab Lab Bilbao as an example of a digital fabrication laboratory. April 2024.
Students of the Philosophy, Economy, and Politics Degree at University of Deusto toured Espacio Open. The group of students was carrying out research on creation factories, citizen innovation labs, and Cultural and Creative Industries as drivers of the economy. November 2024.
A group of professors and students from the Higher School of Design ESI of Valladolid visited Espacio Open to discover our cultural centre and the history of the Artiach former cookie factory. The tour was part of an explorational route of creative projects in Bilbao. November 2024.
Representatives from the Oficina del Historiador de La Habana came for an in-person look at how our fab lab works. The tour fell under a collaborative programme with Tecnalia, where the Basque technology research centre is helping to promote a new creative space in Havana. April 2024.
Throughout 2024, Espacio Open and its different lines of activity have appeared in over thirty press, television, and radio media outlets locally, nationally, and internationally. You can few all press mentions at: https://espacioopen.com/aparicionesen-medios/
El País 04/24
The newspaper El País mentions Espacio Open in its article "viaje a las entrañas de Vizcaya (Trip to the Depths of Biscay)". www.elpais.com
National Geographic 04/24
National Geographic talks about the Artiach former cookie factory. www.viajes.nathionalgeographic com
Agencia EFE 11/24
The EFE agency comes to Festival Maker Faire Bilbao and shares it nationally www.efe.com
Deia 07/24
The newspaper Deia shares the European Commission's support for cultural town planning on Zorrotzaure island. www.deia.eus
Onda Cero 02/24
News programme on Tele7 about the Erribera Zirkular Fest Festival that occurred at Espacio Open. www.ondacero.es
Revista Hola 04/24
The magazine Hola includes us as a place to discover in Bilbao www.hola.com
El Periódico Bilbao 08/24
The newspaper Bilbao publishes an article about the factory as a place for entertainment and culture. www.bilbao.eus
El Correo 06/24
The newspaper El Correo shared the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project, which promotes the neighbourhood's history. www.elcorreo.com
EITB, Euskadi Irratia 09/24
Euskadi Irratia comes to discover the project in homage to the neighbourhood, Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall). www eitb eus
Traveller 07/24
The magazine Traveler speaks of Espacio Open as a trending location in Bilbao. www.traveler.es
Berria 07/24
The newspaper Berria explains the summer activity schedule at the factory. www.berria.eus
La Ser 07/24
The programme Hoy por Hoy talks about summer at the cookie factory www.cadenaser.com
El Correo 03/24
The newspaper El Correo publishes an article on filming "los últimos románticos" at Jardín Secreto Bilbao. www.elcorreo.com
Crónica vasca 06/24
The newspaper Crónica Vasca devotes an article to Vintage Bilbao, the largest vintage shop in Euskadi that not many know about. www.cronicavasca.elespanol.co m
Deia 08/24
The newspaper Deia shares the importance of the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project. www deia eus
La Ser 05/24
The radio programme Hoy por Hoy discusses the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall). www cadenaser com
Onda Vasca 07/2024
Onda Vasca includes us on their list of alternative activities in Bilbao. www.ondavasca.com
I Love Bilbao 04/24
IIoveBilbao.com includes us on their list of Top 10 Places to visit in Bilbao in 2024. www.ilovebilbao.com
El Correo 02/24
The newspaper El Correo publishes an article on the first edition of the Blossom festival held at Espacio Open www.elcorreo.com
Hogarmanía 07/24
The famous blog Hogarmanía is interested in Espacio Open's alterna-tive entertainment activities every weekend. www hogarmania com
Deia 11/24
The newspaper Deia shares Espacio Open and its free, alternative entertainment activities in the city www.deia.eus
EITB 11/24
The tech show La Mecánica del Caracol discusses the activities at Maker Faire Bilbao 2024. www eitb eus
11/24
The show Distrito Euskadi, by EITB, interviews two artists from the creation residencies Maker Ekintzaile 2024. www eitb eus
Gaztezulo 11/24
The digital newspaper Gaztezulo includes the Maker Faire Bilbao festival in its current events section. www gaztezulo eus
Deia 12/24
The newspaper Deia shares Vintage Bilbao's participation in the San Mamés Christmas market. www.deia.eus
Telebilbao 11/24
The local television station Telebilbao comes to film the Muro de la Memoria (Memory Wall) project at Fab Lab Bilbao. www.telebilbao.es
La Ser 10/24
We participate in the show Hoy por Hoy on Radio Bilbao, in a debate focused on social media and hate. www.cadenaser.com
Throughout the year, Espacio Open participates in meetings associated with the Cultural and Creative Industries, as well as events related to innovation. As an integral key player in the Basque cultural and social ecosystem, our goal is to build networks and broaden connections with similar projects to continue opening up new opportunities and to foster cultural innovation with a social impact on our environment.
In September, we attended Azkuna Zentroa's AZzabalik event, a day devoted to sharing ideas and projects related to artistic residencies. The creation spaces that participated in the event were Azala Espacio de Creación, The Office of Quebec in Barcelona, the Huarte Centre of Contemporary Art, and the Dortmund Academy for Digitisation of Theatre.
https://espacioopen.com/azzabalik/
9 and 10 October, we were invited to The Bay Awards Summit event, an urban innovation congress to help cities move toward more sustainable and inclusive models. The event was organised by the public-private association Bilbao Metropoli 30 in collaboration with the international body WRLDCTY and included the participation of over 300 experts and institutions from all around the world. https://espacioopen.com/the-bay-awards-summit/
Mid-March, we participated in Distributed Design's general assembly. We were sharing projects developed by all partners, showing the huge potential of distributed design to generate a social impact. We also had the opportunity to get to know the Make Africa EU project better, which connects African and European maker communities.
https://espacioopen.com/distributed-design-platform/
During the month of February, we worked with a group of 16 students on the second intervention of the Valla Publicitaria (Advertising Billboard) Project. We attended the presentation of the results of the intervention at Kunsthal Workshop Week 2024, where the results from 11 workshops were presented, made by students from the Higher School of Design in collaboration with Cultural and Creative Industries professionals.
From 15 through 17 April, we participated in the World Creativity Forum, CWF24, an event held in Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Donostia by the network Districts of Creativity Network and the Ministry of Culture and Language Policy of the Basque Government. Here, Elementary Cooling was presented, a project we are developing along with five other European partners, including the international platform Jetclay, Godot Studio (Euskadi), Clay-Minaral LTD (Hungary), and UnFold Bv (Belgium). https://espacioopen.com/foro-mundial-creatividad/
T-Factor is a project that seeks to unlock the transformative potential of temporary uses in urban regeneration. The 7 and 8 May, we gathered all European partners of T-Factor in Florence to celebrate the conclusion of the project. The lessons learned after these four years of development can be viewed on the project's website.
https://espacioopen.com/evento-final-tfactor/
Driven by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, along with Aclima (Cluster of Environmental Companies of Euskadi) and EIDE (Basque Design Association), Waste Lab's purpose is to foster innovative solutions in waste management through connections with creative sectors. Espacio Open was one of those invited to collaborate in this new space, located in the Technology Park of Bizkaia. https://espacioopen.com/espacio-open-waste-lab-bizkaia/
Espacio Open participated in the Eurocities Economic Development Forum 2024. Under the title: “Ciudades en transición: hacia un futuro inclusivo y próspero (Cities in Transition: toward an inclusive and prosperous future)," the forum gathered leaders from European cities and the European Union. During the event, we presented the Bilbao pilot for the T-Factor project and conducted a tour of Espacio Open and the creative projects we have underway.
https://espacioopen.com/espacio-open-waste-lab-bizkaia/
Espacio Open participates as a player in several international networks related to cultural and technological innovation, the maker world, and sharing knowledge. Our intent is to function as a connector between players, organisations, and creative profiles locally and internationally.
We belong to the global network of producers of Maker Faire Festivals and have participated in the Maker Faire Global Producers meetups since 2012. https://makerfaire.com/
Through the Fab Labs network and the Distributed Design project, Espacio Open is a partner of the New European Bauhaus, a European Commission initiative to boost design and culture as a tool for transformation. https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/
We are the regional contact in the Basque Country for this global network and have participated in different editions with our own projects, in collaboration or with the support of the organisation in Nevada, Lithuania, Sweden, Spain, and Denmark. https://burningman.org/
Fab Lab international network of laboratories. Fab Lab Bilbao is a member of this network of laboratories. Espacio Open attends the different global Fab Lab Conferences. https://www.media.mit.edu/
Espacio Open is a founding member of the Red Estatal de Centros de Creación y Fabricación digital (National Network of Creation and Digital Fabrication Centres), along with other Fab Labs and Makerspaces around the country. CREAFAB came about in 2016 with the goal of collaborating between creation spaces like Fab Labs and Maker Spaces. https://es.linkedin.com/company/crefab
NEREADÍAZ
Espacio Open Founder and Director
LAURA FERNÁNDEZ
Head of Communication and Digital Marketing
JULIÁNTROTMAN
Creative residencies
Technological Mediation
MARTASANZ
Manager of Vintage Bilbao
JOSUCARRASCO
Maker Faire Bilbao
Technological Mediation
ANGELACRUZ
Space Coordinator
KARIMASRY
European Projects Manager
IÑIGOARROITAJAUREGUI
Administration Manager
LEYREGARCÍA
Space Manager
ALBERTELORDUY
Musical Mediation
GUILLERMOMARTÍNEZ
Video Content Coordinator
TANIAVIRCHENKO
Space Coordinator
Espacio Open would not be possible without the collaboration on projects of the Ministry of Culture of the Basque Government, BEAZ of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and Bilbao Ekintza, the Economic Development Department of Bilbao Town Hall, as well as dozens of local, national, and international suppliers and collaborators who have participated in different programmes and projects throughout 2024. They include Fiare Banca Ética, Studio Petit Muller, Godot Studio, Epic Films, CG Barrios, Busman View, MAC Asesores, Oficina de Turismo Bilbao-Bizkaia, Departamento de Turismo, Consumo y Comercio de Gobierno Vasco, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, IED Kunsthal, UPV-EHU, Universidad de Deusto, Centro de Formación San Luis Bilbao, CPIFP Harrobia, Elorrieta Errekamari Ikastetxea, Fundación Peñaskal, Noiz Agenda, I Love Bilbao, ABZ, Impresiones Fika, Cianoplan, Traducciones Bitez, Viveros Fadura, Santana 27, Buzoneos Kalea, and many more organisations Mila esker!
