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open source: The Latest Architecture and News

In Defense of Open Source Design

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The unspoken truth about housing today? Most of it is ugly - more accurately described as "developed" than "designed."

What's the difference? A housing development is bottom line-oriented; a housing design is human-centered. A housing development is made for the masses; housing design is typically envisioned for an individual client. But, at the end of the day, every house was at one point designed. In other words, development and design are merely made to oppose by developers and designers. They can be one and the same.

So how can we negotiate the difference between "development" and "design" - and effectively create better housing for the many without loss of individualism? Allow me to suggest an unlikely solution: making architecture open source.

Paperhouses: Architecture in Open Source

“Architecture does not change anything. It’s always on the side of the wealthy. The important thing is to believe that it can make life better.” -- Oscar Niemeyer

As much as we'd care to deny it, Niemeyer makes a valid point here. Architecture is almost always "on the side of the wealthy"; the profession, as it has existed for about a century, rarely changes anything; and yet - and yet - it can make life better. If only for a select few. 

But what if architecture could make life better for the many. What if good-quality, life-bettering architecture were open-source and available to download off the internet? For free? 

Well, thanks to Paperhouses, it already is.