TechShop lets 'makers' tinker and innovate

Kristen Merek watches a 3D printer, the Printer Bot simple, compile a replica of the Wall Street bull at TechShop in Arlington, Virginia in August. Photos By Paul J Richards / Agence France Presse

So-called makerspaces are on the rise and drawing a diverse crowd of architects, artists and designers

It's hard to miss the plane that sits triumphantly in the midst of a store in Washington's suburbs. But there are no wings, cockpit or motor attached to its shiny fuselage.

And the man tinkering with it is neither a professional technician nor an occasional handyman.

Rather, he and others around him are "makers" - enthusiasts from a myriad of backgrounds keen on coming up with new things through collaboration.

Welcome to TechShop - a chain of eight facilities in the United States where creatives, in exchange for a fee, can access professional equipment, software and experts.

At first glance, the Arlington branch, located at a mall just several Metro stops from the White House, looks like a small, nearly empty and nondescript store.

But once inside, there's no mistaking this is a space where ideas come to life. Spread across nearly 220 square meters, it is stocked full of equipment.

A faint smell of burnt wood wafts through the air, emanating from a laser cutting machine.

With the help of this 3-D printer, inventors can create shapes in a whole range of materials, from cardboard to wood and foam.