Go to the Starlab websiteS t a r l a b   A r c h i v e
Having now visited quite a number of labs in Europe,  I can say that when Starlab closed we were very far ahead of many other European and US labs - in vision, culture, research, and outlook. Starlab was indeed one of a kind.
Richard Wheeler, October 2001, Research Scientist at Starlab NV/SA

 
STARLAB PICTURE GALLERY The Starlab Website is not available anymore 
(since about June 3, 2002). See the copies @
The Internet Archive
The Internet LibraryThe Internet Library Web site


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Starlab NV/SA was a privately funded, Blue Sky research institute in Brussels, Belgium. At the time of the bankruptcy (June 12, 2001), there worked about 100 people, from which 70 scientists and engineers. The range of research areas was very broad: intelligent clothing, stemcell research, emotics, transarchitecture, robotics, theoretical physics (e.g., the possibilities of time-travel),quantum consciousness, quantum computation, art, artificial brain building, new media, biophysics, materials science, protein folding and nano-electronics, to mention a couple [ all falling within the acronym "BANG" - Bit, Atoms, Neurons, Genes.  Recently this combination was recognized at MIT. Also see the Seminar lists ].
Blue Sky Research, Multi-disciplinarity, Deep Future, "Revenge of the Nerds", Creating Wealth, Serendipity and "In this place 100 years means nothing" were some of the mottos.

Nature, Vol. 412, 5 July 2001, p. 6: Utopian dream in tatters as Starlab crashes to Earth. [pdf, 160 k]

Discussion of Starlab by Regina Casonato & Nick Jones, Gartner, Inc.

"The business model and the company strategy were not well synchronized. Management and investors assumed the business model meant that the time to reach the break-even point was relatively short (i.e., the dot-com model), but the initiatives were run as though time and money were not issues,  which is the mentality for a basic research model."
 
Our role is to show the feasibility of crazy ideas. Starlab is a crazy company where you can realise crazy things without limitations. You can get people to back an idea without worrying about whether it will fit a particular business plan. At Starlab there is no risk of being conservative, because we are inventing the future.
                                  Ronald Schrooten, April 2001, in Financial Times article

 
Websites of some ex-Starlabbers (in random order):    Press:

Various:

Go to the Barcelona websiteStarlab Barcelona still exists!
 
"This idea is going to come back, because it was too big. It will not be me, it will not be the ex-starlabbers perhaps, but someone will pick up that idea again and make a killing IPO based on Deep Future research. And I will be there in the audience clapping. Perhaps in order to succeed, Starlab had to fail. Damned shame though."
                                                                           Walter de Brouwer, July 2002, in Tornado-Insider


Examples of other research labs which have/had something in common with Starlab. None of them, however, has/had the broadness in fields of research (though MIT MediaLab seems to move into that direction) and the conviction that it is fundamental science which is the source of true progress:


MIT Media Lab MIT Media Lab European Media LabEuropean Media Laboratory
Interval Research Corporation (1992-2000) Interval Research Corporation (1992-2000)
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center PARC The Egg FactoryThe Egg Factory

 
AT&T's Cambridge Lab (developers of, among others, VNC) forced to close down (The Guardian)
 
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Created by Chris P. Duif, former research scientist at Starlab  -   Last updated: November 5, 2003