Open Source Architecture

Joost van Uden

On the 28th of April, the Open Source House team organized a workshop and a lecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology.

Within the field of architecture the concept of open source is a relatively new theme. During the workshop the participants worked on this by creating a coherent vision. It should clearly state what the advantages are of open source architecture, what motivates architects as well as other specialists to participate in the project. And how the ‘open source input’ reaches those who need it in Ghana. The time-span of the workshop was fairly limited so the result focused on the main issues to be tackled.

First of all the main stakeholders were identified; architects, constructors and suppliers, users of the building and the local community. In this respect the architects were conceived not as the ones who primarily contribute but actually the ones who are in need of information the most. Architects need information on; climate and weather conditions, local culture, legislation and regulations, local (building) materials and construction principles, in order to make a useful design.

Ownership was conceived as a problem. How can we get people/architects to contribute to an open-source system? Especially in architecture the pride of ownership of ideas and designs plays an important role. The found solution was based on a growth-model. OS-house should start with a small exclusive network of professionals. Information is only shared within a group of people with whom you really want to affiliate. In the second stage people can join by invitation; OS-house is still exclusive and invitees need to add information to become a member. In the third stage the amount and quality of information has reached a level that enables a true open character. Membership is open to all and they have access to information without the demand of sharing. Nevertheless users almost feel obliged to share due to the open character. It is a similar growth strategy as for instance used by the introduction of g-mail.

The next main issue was profitability; why would you share your insights with everyone? As the network grows the value of the information in the network is so much bigger than any individual input, that it is worth to share. The value of the individual work shall also increase due to the value of the whole network.

The team also tackled the problem of the communication barrier by introducing an OS-demo-house. Here the local community can physically see all the possibilities. A local ambassador should function as the local information manager of the OS-demo-house. He/She is able to communicate well with the local community so that they get the most out of the OS-house, as well as source the information needed by parties on the other side of the network.

All in all, the workshop as facilitated by LEAPS pinpointed some important barriers for OS-house. The workshop produced some valuable new insights on how OS could work in the field of architecture. We hope the workshop was as inspiring for the participants as it was for the facilitators.