WikiHouse

WikiHouse prototype in Westminster

WikiHouse is an open-source project for designing and building houses.[1][2] It endeavours to democratise and simplify the construction of sustainable, resource-light dwellings.[1][2][3][4] The project was initiated in the summer of 2011 by Alastair Parvin and Nick Ierodiaconou of 00, a London based strategy and design practice, in collaboration with Tav of Espians, James Arthur now with 00 and Steve Fisher of Momentum Engineering.[5][6] It was launched at the Gwangju Design Biennale in Gwangju, South Korea.[5][7][8] The project has since grown to include many chapters around the world.[9]

Concept

Scale models of two different WikiHouse designs

WikiHouse enables users to download Creative Commons-licensed building plans from its website, customize them using SketchUp, and then use them to create jigsaw puzzle-like pieces out of plywood with a CNC router.[1][6] Construction of WikiHouse structures requires no special parts because the cut pieces of wood snap together with wedge and peg connections inspired by classical Korean architecture.[10][11] The frame of a WikiHouse can be assembled in less than a day by people with no formal training in construction.[10] The frame must then be finished with cladding, insulation, wiring, and plumbing before it can be inhabited.[2][11]

History

A WikiHouse under construction at Ouisharefest in Paris, May 2013

After winning a cash prize at TEDGlobal in June 2012, the project invested the prize money into a partnership with the Brazilian youth mobilization project Dharma and the analysis agency BrazilIntel to build WikiHouses in the poorest favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[4] The goal of the partnership, dubbed WikiHouseRio, is to provide a single "maker lab" where one CNC router can be shared by the community while also allowing and encouraging community members to develop their own designing and building skills.[4][5] The WikiHouse team plans to eventually create similar maker labs in other underdeveloped communities around the world.[4] There are also plans to use WikiHouses as disaster-relief housing in earthquake-prone countries such as Haiti, Japan, and New Zealand.[3]

By December 2013, while there were no inhabited WikiHouses, there were a few completed prototypes in addition to a usable walkers' shelter in Fridaythorpe, England.[11] These WikiHouses are single-story, square-shaped structures with sloped roofs and small foundations that measure about 175 square feet (16.3 m2).[2] By 2015, several additional WikiHouses had been built, including the following buildings and at the following events:

Impact

Media reaction to WikiHouse has focused largely on the experimental nature of the project,[1][2] comparisons with IKEA furniture,[2][11] and the potential difficulty in finding and costs of using CNC routers.[1][4] American science fiction author Bruce Sterling also gave a review of the WikiHouse design, describing it favorably as a dwelling "I could quite likely build and inhabit, personally".[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 LaBarre, Suzanne (25 August 2011). "WikiHouse, An Online Building Kit, Shows How To Make A House In 24 Hours". Co.Design. Fast Company, Inc. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kingsley, Jeremy (22 February 2012). "The WikiHouse Revolution". Slate. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  3. 1 2 Borgobello, Bridget (15 May 2012). "WikiHouse: Get ready to design, "print" and construct your own home!". Gizmag. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Isaacson, Betsy (1 March 2013). "WikiHouse Democratizes Design For Inexpensive, Easily Built Homes". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Parvin, Alastair; Nick Ierodiaconou (22 June 2012). "A House and Home for the 99%". CITY2.0. TED Conferences, LLC. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 Firth, Peter; Thomas Rees (5 August 2011). "Grand Designs: Open-source platform comes to housing". LifeStyle:News:Global. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Hicks, Jesse (17 August 2011). "WikiHouse promises printable homes, work for the world's idle CNC routers". Engadget. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "00:/ at TED2013". 00:/Blog. 00:/. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "WikiHouse Community". WikiHouse. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  10. 1 2 McNicoll, Arion (5 August 2013). "How to build your home from scratch for $35,000". CNN.com. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Goodwins, Rupert (16 December 2013). "Meet The People Who Want To Print A Home In A Day". Popular Science. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "WikiHouse Gives Architecture to the People". Global Lighting. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "The new house that definitely needs Windows! Company launches two-bedroom home that you DOWNLOAD from the internet and build yourself". Daily Mail. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "FOUNDhouse". FOUNDhouse. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "WikihouseUS/Vermont-Microhouse". GitHub. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Bain, Duncan (15 July 2013). "MAKLab's Wikihouse: Day One". Open Source Architecture blog. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Wikihouse". Chop Shop. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "Space Craft: developing WikiHouse in New Zealand". Space Craft Systems. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  19. ↑ "Wikihouse Project". SketchThis. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "WikihouseUS/Alex-Wikished". GitHub. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "Vienna Open". Vienna Open, Verlag Neue Arbeit. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Sterling, Bruce (2 August 2011). "Architecture Fiction: WikiHouse". Wired. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to WikiHouse.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.