Vancouver’s tech community learned yesterday that the beloved coworking facility Workspace is to close its doors tomorrow. Jayson Minard, who took over the business from founder Bill MacEwan less than a year ago, emailed members with the bad news, and a shocking imperative to clean out any personal belongings before the end of August 21.
I planted myself at Workspace part-time for two years, joining before the doors opened on the basis of an idea and a tour from Dane. I made new friends, enjoyed what was still Gastown’s best cup of coffee, and got things done against the view of peaceful mountains and the busy harbour. Though I worked more on remote projects, Workspace made me feel like I was working in the Vancouver community. Last last year I needed to change things up and ended my membership, but was still in there every two weeks for meetings. I have one last meeting there today at 4.
Workspace showed what the upper bar in coworking looks like, but more importantly it was a fantastic hub for Vancouver geeks and a symbol of innovation. It doesn’t sound like there will be a chance for a closing party to give it a proper sendoff.
Speaking of losses, the wider world of geekdom saw another one on the same day with the disappearance of the anonymous uber-coder _why. Not being a coder, I never knew much of _why, only that the work under that name was widely-respected and packed with personality. John Resig’s tribute sums up the value that _why brought to the community, and touches on the ephemerality of our works:
If there’s any analogy that I can make about _why, his online persona, and all the works that he’s produced over the years it’s to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the sand mandala. After a mandala has been constructed – and displayed – it is ceremoniously deconstructed – which is meant “to symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.”
It’s a fitting theme for those who work on digital products, which can have less durability than fresh sushi. Nick Sweeny recently wrote about the durability of things written down hundreds and even thousands of years ago, and the durability of what narratives are created by communities that form and live online.
Technology and business are relentless in the pursuit of tighter cycles, and the urgency can fool us into forgetting too easily what came before. I don’t think that the space left by the disappearance of _why or of Workspace will be so forgotten, as they live on in the better coding and better relationships that came out of their existence.
So, here’s to the life of things done well, all of which have their own ends.
Also in the vein of hand-made and artful works, I recently spotted one of Rachel Ashe’s Altered Book pieces on @somisguided‘s desk in our office. I wasn’t aware of these before, and found it absorbing in a way that can’t be conveyed on a screen. Lest you believe that hand-made art is on the decline, Cam and Rachel are providing ample evidence to the contrary. 
