Artisans Asylum was originally sited on the industrial end of Windsor Street in Somerville, near the Taza Chocolate factory and a smattering of independent artist’s studios. A2 founder Gui Cavalcanti, a former Boston Dynamics engineer and recent Olin School of Engineering graduate, wanted to pursue his interest in robotics and share the use (and expense) of the necessary equipment with others. When the Artisan’s Asylum first opened in May 2010, “we expected something like 20 people [to show up],” Cavalcanti said, “and 100 people showed up and there was no breathing room. We realized that demand was huge.”

Version 2.0 was located on Joy Street, near Washington Street, the Brickbottom, and Joy Street artist studios, and featured 13 artist workspaces that sold out in a matter of days by word of mouth. Cavalcanti said “we looked around and said, what if we exchanged the ratio of renter space to craft space, since our renters love the place, why not make it about half the space? That means that renters pay most of our rent and expenses.”

Nestled into the crook of a residential neighborhood in Somerville’s eastern end, version 3.0 was the most ambitious iteration yet. It offered approximately 90 artisan workspaces, along with classroom spaces, and shared welding, woodworking, electronics tools and classroom teaching. In the center of the main floor were a few well-worn couches, a pair of stereo speakers, and “the ultimate time waster”—a vintage arcade console housing a computer outfitted with hundreds of videogame options from the classic to the cutting edge.

Version 4.0 finds Artisans in a new state of the art, 52,000 SF maker wonderland nestled in the heart of the Allston/Brighton neighborhood of Boston.