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Space 21 coordinator Jason Selvarajan encourages everyone to experiment

Published: 10.3.2022

Jason Selvarajan is a general enthusiast, a curious mind, and a coordinator of Space 21 – Aalto’s brand-new project space and a living room of radical creativity

Photo of Jason Selvarajan, Space 21 coordinator. — Jason Selvarajan, Space 21 coordinator. Photo: Sheung Yiu

Jason Selvarajan, Space 21 coordinator, is someone you did not know you needed to know, until you have met him. Whenever you have an idea or a project you would like to make happen, he is sure to get excited about it and find ways to make it happen.

Jason is an overall enthusiast and has a very curious mind, always eager to learn something new. He's interested in sustainability, and how design and practical tools could provide novel solutions to the sustainability-related issues.

His background is in environmental engineering, even though he never imagined becoming an engineer. He now has two master’s degrees ongoing - one of them in Creative Sustainability here in Aalto - despite describing himself as not much of a student.

However, he has always been interested in academia for its possibilities and people. It is a place where you can meet people from different disciplines, experts of their own fields, and learn something new from each conversation.

He is also always up for a challenge. He says that anyone can learn anything if they are resilient enough and just keep on trying. Achieving something through trial and error and learning in that process suits him well and is at the very core of his personality too.

A fool for FABLABs

In the process of helping others you inevitably end up learning new things as well. That suits well for a curious mind that is hungry for learning, like Jason’s, but he also genuinely enjoys helping others. How he got into FABLABs and ended up helping others in the process is a great proof of it.

FABLABs are workshops that bring variety of digital production tools under the same roof to enable learning and innovation. They were also love at first sight for Jason. Tools and possibilities that he had earlier perceived as a luxury of selected few were suddenly all within the reach of anybody, including Jason himself.

It is no wonder why Jason fell for FABLABs, as he loves different tools and several ways they can be utilised. He ended up becoming a self-taught FABLAB expert and used to spend all his time in open days to help everyone else and came back the other day to work on his own projects.

Helping others is something Jason wishes to do in Space 21 as well. In addition to FABLABs and digital production, also maker’s culture in general are close to Jason’s heart.

Responsibilities of a coordinator

Space 21 also offers an opportunity to spread the joy of certain craftmanship and turning vague ideas into reality. In addition to offering his time and help, as Space 21 coordinator Jason also takes care of bookings, keeps the place up and running and takes part in developing the concept. His general curiosity and wide spectrum of knowledge make him someone anyone might need: if he cannot personally help, he can guide people towards the direction they need, be it for resources, tools or connections.

Cross-disciplinarity, wild ideas and creative and engaging work excite him, and he is very eager to see how Space 21 eventually turns out: what kind of projects and people find their way there. Jason encourages to get in touch with him in case you are interested in his work or Space 21 in general. You can explore spaces remotely or in person. In addition to being an interesting encounter, it is also a great way to get to know the space and its possibilities.

Space 21 will open its doors in spring 2022 and will soon invite everyone to come and meet the team, explore the premises or have a cup of coffee.

More information
Jason Selvarajan, Space 21 coordinator
[email protected]

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Space 21

Space 21 is a cluster of free project spaces for the use of whole Aalto community. It is a living room of radical creativity which fosters new ideas, innovations and solutions.

Space 21 on Instagram