Now that industry is often clean, green, small, and quiet it can be integrated with other uses at the city and building scale. This potential hybrid is as of yet very little explored. Nina Rappaport, educator, urbanist, and YSoA publications director is convening a symposium to investigate what this new mix will look like and how can it encourage new entrepreneurs, jobs, and urban forms? How can hybrid models change with new technologies, sustainable manufacturing, and advanced production systems to be integrated into communities with local entrepreneurs at the helm? Can we break the planning and land-use patterns of segregated zoning by class and function to encourage mixed-use zoning? This symposium on the Hybrid Urban Factory, architects, public officials, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations will present a series of case studies and design-driven discussions on policy and making things.
The symposium will convene on Thursday evening with a keynote talk by Nona Yehia of Vertical Harvest and on Friday two main sessions will mix the presenters in their discussions of remixing spaces for production and community to reimagine the future of urban manufacturing. These spaces house jobs that also support social and economic equity.