Since 2017, nonprofit organization Chicago Mobile Makers has offered free and low-cost design programming to young people, teaching architecture, fabrication, and construction in partnership with museums and local institutions. Now, that programming is being delivered straight to Chicago neighborhoods from the back of a cleverly redesigned USPS van.
Decked out as a sustainable studio, Mobile Makerspace is a roving design workshop serving up coursework to young people across Chicago. The organization’s mission is to empower youth through skill-building, nurturing a more socially, economically, and racially diverse generation of architects and designers.
Mobile Makerspace is a 108-square-foot classroom, gallery, tool shed, and design studio-on-wheels. Four rooftop solar panels provide ample renewable energy to power tools, laptops, and even larger machinery like a laser cutter…