ARCHITECTURE FOR THE CROWD BY THE CROWD: A NEW MODEL FOR DESIGN ACQUISITION

Year 2016, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 68 - 76, 01.01.2016

Imdat As Takehıko Nagakura

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of crowdsourcing as a new approach for architectural design acquisition. We argue that crowdsourcing can have a vast impact on smaller scale design needs, e.g. home remodeling, or landscape and interior design projects, and can potentially carry these often neglected projects into the architectural design sphere. In the US alone, there are about 15 Million smaller-scale projects of which only 11% make it to the hands of a professional designer. The remainder of projects - accounting for a staggering $170B in construction expenditures- is implemented with a contractor or done by the clients themselves. What are the reasons behind this discrepancy in high “desire and need” for design and the few projects that have professional design? The causes are manifold, and can be termed as “the customer pain:” a. architectural offices are not easy to access; b. there is a perceived high cost associated with professional design work; and c. the high risk of a single solution that cannot meet the client’s expectations. In order to address some of these real or perceived discontinuities in the design/construction project flow, we developed Arcbazar, an online crowdsourcing platform for architectural design. The platform, born within the Venture Mentoring Service VMS Program at MIT Cambridge, MA , has now successfully completed about a thousand projects worldwide; and collected hundreds of thousands of visuals, conversations, audio-video files, and related visual graphic material from designers and clients around the globe. Here, we will analyze the massive design data generated over the last five years of Arcbazar, discuss methods and techniques of crowdsourcing, and illustrate one case study with overall analytics of the platform. We will then evaluate the protocol and outcome of architectural crowdsourcing, convey professional and popular media responses, and argue for its potential to disrupt traditional architectural practice

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