Free Architecture: Enabling the amateur's freedom to create

RIBA OBE Part II - C5 Dissertation

FREE ARCHITECTURE: Enabling the amateur's freedom to create

TIMOTHY PHILIP GENTRY | 14/2/138 Word count: 10,662 23rd September 2016

……

Contents

2

Introduction

13

Chapter 1: Defining Value

30

Chapter 2: Context is Relative

44

Chapter 3: For Better or Worse

56

Chapter 4: In Richer or Poorer

65

Bibliography

73

Image List

Free Architecture ‌‌

Introduction

If the constant drip of stories on world affairs coming from the news feeds of media sources across the globe are to be believed, a startling picture of the contemporary world starts to emerge.

From the votes on Scottish independence and Britain's pending exit from the EU, Ukraine's revolution and subsequent annexing of Crimea by Russia (Jalabi and Yuhas 2014), recent attempts at a military coup in Turkey (BBC News 2016) and the on-going political circus we hear from media coverage of the Trump and Clinton presidential race, countries everywhere have been and will continue to be forced to contemplate the prospect of huge cultural shifts. A brief look back through history shows us many instances in which these shifts have happened in our societies before: from the Norman Conquest of England, the discovery of the 'New World' by Christopher Columbus, the following Spanish Conquests sounding the death knell for the Aztecs, the surreptitious colonisation of India by the canny business of The

3

Free Architecture – Introduction

East India Company and the trademark Maoist principles of China's Cultural Revolution that abolished capitalist and traditional values.

However, with the advent of the world-wide-web and the interconnectivity that enables, the world is undergoing a kind of silent cultural revolution on a scale we have never seen before. This increased interconnectivity can be both positive and negative, a prime example of this can be seen in the aftermath of the unfortunate shooting of Mark Duggan by police in 2011. Later gaining the nickname the 'Blackberry Riots', social media was used to mobilise people to go out into the streets and riot in protest, destroying property all over London and various other UK cities. But strangely enough it spurred an equal and opposite reaction through other social media platforms as clean-up operations spread their “call-toaction� to counter those of the rioters and take back their city.

The internet exposes us to ideas that would have previously remained hidden due to suppression, their general inaccessibility or their lack of appeal to the wider public, which in turn fuel a desire for positive change. Although what makes a change 'positive' is a subjective choice, an idealised world would suggest that where knowledge is disseminated more widely we will witness a spirit of enabling that will only be of benefit to us in forming a deeper connection with, understanding of and tolerance for the complexities of the world we inhabit. Indeed, while the full picture is much more

4

Free Architecture – Introduction

complicated and on-going, the coup in Turkey was suppressed in part through participation with social media as it mobilised the community against it through the collective memory of past coups and their consequences (BBC News 2016). The people took action to exercise their freedoms and prevent history repeating itself. While the speed and severity of these responses can be scary and unpredictable, we have observed what positive impacts it can have, and how important it is to avoid a reductive response of fearful preservation that would lead to a loss of freedom and expression.

Many analogies in this thinking can be drawn with contemporary architectural process. We need to move forward with an enlightened perspective, recognising the potential of new technologies and social interactions to engage with other parts of the globe on a deeper level and generate real conversation.

Cedric Price, the controversial architect and theorist of the mid 20th Century had visions for a truly participatory architecture. He sought to engender in the profession the idea of a freedom to be useful, whereby practice encouraged and enabled people to participate in the architectural process so they may be provided with and provide themselves greater utility and usefulness (Price 2003, p.11).

Architecture, after all, has such a significant influence on our daily lives that methods of defining how those environments are formed must be as inclusive as possible to generate real participation and a

5

Free Architecture – Introduction

sense of ownership. Writing in his Open Source Architecture, Ratti quotes critic, historian and director of the Design Museum in London, Dejan Sudjic: “In its scale and its complications, architecture is by far the biggest and most overwhelming of all cultural forms. It literally determines the way that we see the world, and how we interact with each other. For the patron, it is a chance to exert a sense of control over events. And for a certain kind of architect it offers the possibility of control over people.� (2008, p.20) This clearly states in no uncertain terms the importance Sudjic places on architecture's influence over our lives, and in turn how crucial a role those that design it play in ensuring our wellbeing. But this realisation is nothing new. Price was by no means the first and will certainly not be the last to extol the virtues of empowering people to regain a freedom to create their own environment. Before him the leading Victorian art critic John Ruskin was to propose the very same ideas. As Ratti explains, he proposed: 'an architectural manifestation of Protestant ideals: every man is qualified not only to appreciate design, but to create it. Just as the Protestant Reformation empowered anyone to read scripture and find truth without clergy, Ruskin preached an architectural gospel

6

Free Architecture – Introduction

of the common man, without architects. And, like the Protestant Reformation, the idea caught fire and spread throughout Europe' (2015, p.33).

Here we see a clear analogy with the world of cyberspace. In opensource and free software we come across the same expression of inalienable freedoms. But in order for software to be free, then the source code used to write it must be free from restrictions. Users must be able to both use and modify the software as they see fit (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.60). Open-source design ideals consider the same perspective, whereby design truly reaches its full potential to enrich peoples lives through the free exchange and modification of ideas by any individual interested enough to give it a go. There should be no restrictions preventing them from sharing the idea or its derivatives with whomever should wish to see it, modifying it in whatever way they wish or using it in whichever way they want. It would be “free” in the same way that we value “free speech”, and the internet offers us a platform from which the fullest form of this freedom can be exercised to its maximum potential. The collective intelligence present in the 'hive mind' of the internet offers up opportunities for innovation on a scale that it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to comprehend. In the same way the hackerconceived computer operating system Linux tapped into a vast network of programmers both willing and excited by the opportunity

7

Free Architecture – Introduction

to contribute to the evolution of a truly open-source software platform (Ratti, 2015, p.64), we may be able to generate an avid interest in and dissemination of design knowledge to the betterment of our built environment.

But in order for this to happen and not end up with a chaotic and nervous split of new development models from outdated practices and planning infrastructures, existing inadequacies must be addressed and a faith in the system restored. As things currently stand the general public have little of that faith left. Developer and former architect Roger Zogolovitch points out that our current: 'planning system built upon a complex foundation of controls, overlaid with wider public mistrust of and distaste for development, wealthy overseas investors targeting homes as investment vehicles, and expanding population fuelling demand meeting ever strengthening regulation and a shortage of supply all provide the ingredients for the perfect storm.' (2015, p. 37).

Key to dispelling this storm will lie in increasing participation in the development of our built environment through discussions around devolved processes that deploy modern technologies to give people as many opportunities as possible to exercise their right/ freedom to be useful (Price 2003, p.11).

8

Free Architecture – Introduction

But what form should this take, how would it be exercised and by whom? As planners are well aware, a bottom-up only approach would be no better than the predominantly top-down one we currently have, and under current planning infrastructure and practices, the process of 'enabling' people through the currently vague definition of open-source methods is both costly and timeconsuming. 'Big Society' plans laid down by previous incarnations of the government have lead to a burdensome responsibility placed on local councils to oversee the development of some 17,000-18,000 new truly local plans across 9600 parish councils and 1600 town councils in the UK. (Bishop, 2009). These plans are intended to be developed by consultation with local people and industries. But when left unattended the temptation for local Parishes is to make these spatial in nature, which is contrary to planning guidelines and 'has produced some totally un-usable Parish Plans. Open Source Planning states that local authority support will be essential' (Bishop 2009, p.378).

Cedric Price was making much the same noise about a perceived failure of the planning system back in 1964. Ratti quotes a damning comment from Price: "I consider it unlikely that architecture and planning will match the contribution Hush Puppies have made to society today, let

9

Free Architecture – Introduction

alone approach that of the transistor or loop, until a total reappraisal of its particular expertise is self-imposed, or inflicted from outside. Designers and architects would be better employed in devising new languages of comparison from computers, than using them to confirm the obvious."' (2015, p.90) The same issues seemingly linger on in a planning system illequipped to implement any truly collaborative and inclusive policies due to the sheer scale and implied costs within existing frameworks (Bishop 2009, p.380). New models of development are needed, ones where planning perhaps needs to relinquish a degree of control under agreed frameworks and physical infrastructure, the 'source code' of architecture, to the self-builders.

We can draw on the experiences of the hacker culture of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) to give us an indication of what new development models may look like. Like software, where we find architecture operating on the fringes as knowledge is disseminated further down the social ladder, we could find ourselves working as a service provider ancillary to the final design/ production of buildings.

An analysis of software as a traditional proprietary industry sees it primarily as a manufacturer, like any other physical product, whereby it is a saleable commodity and has a sale-value. Much like buildings; they come with a price-tag. However, most of the

10

Free Architecture – Introduction

workload for programmers, about 90 to 95 percent, comes after the sale has been made in maintaining code to keep it up and running, including 'in-house customisation, hardware-specific device drivers, and “embedded� code' (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.21). Hence when treated as a commodity developers are reluctant to maintain the product for extended periods of time as there is no money in it for them. Its value rapidly decreases after the point of sale. The FOSS model appears to present the best way forward, whereby the service of maintaining the product, it's use-value, is where the money is to be made (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.21).

Thus alternative collaborative approaches to planning may supplement the highly managed, and highly costly, distanced dialogues we currently use; dialogues which break down where the money doesn't exist to implement proper management. The demands on management of the process will lighten through a creative application of modern technology, helping planning to rediscover 'its original purpose of delivering fairness and promoting wellbeing. This is a role that encompasses support for sustainable and local economic growth, but the link to measure of GDP needs to be broken.' (Rydin 2015, p.165). One crucial way in which this link could be broken is through supply and demand constraints linked to the availability of land. It is a valuable resource to developers and one which immediately looses its value once construction begins,

11

Free Architecture – Introduction

hence land is often traded on its own value with the prospect of development in perpetual limbo. When development does eventually start the cost of the parcel of land means profit margins on the building(s) are squeezed to ever tighter margins (Zogolovich 2015, p.47). New schemes may be developed selling land parcels that fit with open-source methods and ideals which could have a three-fold effect of increasing land supply, reducing build costs and in turn increasing the creation of non-monetary value in our built environment.

Like Price, the Greek modernist architect Takis X. Zenetos also foresaw the implications of an interconnected world through telecoms networks, and proposed a vision of architecture as fleeting, temporary and immaterial. Forever in flux. This marries with visions of our future cities as places created by an enabled public, free to exercise a desire to create and introduce value where-ever they perceive a need for it. A continually evolving process of creation, destruction, reformation, and renewal. He imagined a world 'where links and interactions became more important than structure' (Ratti 2015, p.37), which may yet be proven correct. In this way, a new model of open-source architecture may be seen to share much in common with that of the metabolists. As Ratti goes on to explain:

12

Free Architecture – Introduction

'"Only the assumption of clear ideological positions and the application of rigorously scientific procedure can guarantee a legitimate political and technical framework. The new objectives can be set and new practical instruments be developed to produce a balanced and stimulating physical environment."

Architect became anthropologist, and organic form emerged from his rational analytic processes... Much like an organism, architecture would respond to the pushes and pulls exerted by a matrix of socio-dynamic forces that surround it.' (2015, pp.38-39) Through free and open-source models we may see the adoption and creation of vernacular placed back firmly in the hands of local people. But how will this affect our built environment and what will be the important pitfalls to avoid? Will we end up with a mismatch of disparate styles and forms creating a modern, chaotic slum? Or will we be able to manage the process, disseminating a greater understanding for what constitutes good design, and see a swell in other values besides financial creating better spaces, with more light, better material quality, more sustainable lifestyles and increased well-being?

1 ……

Defining Value

The term “open-source” originated from the world of programming software development as an adjunct to the “free” software definition first founded by Richard Stallman in 1985 (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.14). As Chopra and Dexter elucidate in Decoding Liberation, it was a fork away from hacker culture ideals in a move to seek: '...greater acceptance among corporate developers for the free software development model, but not for its attendant political and ethical message. In disdaining the explicit ideology of the FSF, the OSI is forced to make facile claims that writing software is just engineering, that free software is not a moral or social imperative. But these claims ring hollow in a world where software is deeply implicated in the creation and maintenance of contemporary social and political structures, from electronic voting to public

Free Architecture – Defining Value

14

education to an ever-increasing suite of economic transactions.'

(2008, p.71) Hence it's application to architecture should be carefully considered if choosing to practice a particular ethical or social stance. If we are to embody the ideas expressed by the likes of Ruskin and Price that truly enable people to exercise a freedom to create, it would seem far more appropriate to think of architecture as being “free”, than “opensource”. Whereby the word “free” is chosen to describe the process in the same terms that we think of when speaking about “free speech”, as 'a matter of liberty, not price' (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.39). Housing is after all a fundamental human right but due to market implications the Government is failing to fulfil this duty quite dramatically. Clearly this infrastructure can't be relied upon, we must look to other sources and provide for ourselves by handing back the freedom to build.

As agreed by the hacker culture that grew up around it, the ethics and ideals of free software are defined in the grouping of four freedoms (Chopra and Dexter, 2008, p.39-40). These four freedoms are: Freedom 0.

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.

15

Free Architecture – Defining Value

Freedom 1.

The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Freedom 2.

The freedom to re-distribute copies so you can help your neighbour

Freedom 3.

The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

If we transpose these into four freedoms embodying the ethics of free architecture, where the “program” is defined as the components of the design and the “source code” the design composition/ infrastructure, they would read something like this: Freedom 0.

The freedom to implement the design, for any purpose.

Freedom 1.

The freedom to study how the design components work, and adapt them to your needs. Access to design composition/ infrastructure is a precondition for this.

Freedom 2.

The freedom to re-distribute copies so you can help your neighbour

16

Free Architecture – Defining Value

Freedom 3.

The freedom to revise the design, and release your revisions to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to design composition/ infrastructure is a precondition for this.

The realities of implementing ideals like these would likely prove alienating, certainly initially speaking, for the majority of people as the design complexities would be too much beyond the rearranging of a plan, but the principles are arguably sound. Clearly due to the very nature of the idea the ethical stance of such a movement can only be decided through discussion with and the collective agreement of a surrounding culture of practitioners. As we find in hacker culture and free software development, the majority of people that engage with FOSS were predominantly already hackers themselves, i.e. enthusiasts with a particular interest in the industry or professionals operating within it. Similarly, most people are unlikely to engage in the process of designing free architecture due to either a lack of interest/ knowledge, a general apathy for it, or simply because they prefer to employ a professional outfit to come up with a design for them. It is far more likely that a much more limited number of professionals and enthusiasts would be the one's to participate (Hothi 2012). As such it is hardly likely to lead to the ruination of the profession that so many architect's fear when the

17

Free Architecture – Defining Value

topic of open-source (free) architecture and its consequences are discussed. Far more likely an outcome is that the breadth of the profession's remit and types of project it can tackle will expand.

Architects and enthusiasts will become community enablers or “Choral Architects” as Ratti suggests (2015). It will move the profession to encompass the free software paradigm embodied in the development of the Linux OS: 'It is an entirely new conception of design, what academic and sociologist Richard Sennett calls "public craft." With the staggering momentum of programmers worldwide pushing it forward, Linux has evolved in ways that proprietary software could never have done. It stands as a testament to the heterogeneous entities that assembled it – a million vibrant particles, amateur and adept, with a tangle of agendas and interests. The chemistry of a diffuse networked intelligence is a tremendous force of innovation and disruption, on a scale that humans have never worked before.'

(Ratti 2015, p.64) Perhaps another way to define free architecture is also to explain what it is not. Software is a knowledge-based community, and as such the workers form an integral part of it. But for proprietary software companies a notion of free software is counter to their production process. They are a manufacturer in the more traditional

18

Free Architecture – Defining Value

sense, hence the components of their programs are how they generate revenue, and to share it would be to the ruination of their business. Preventing the source-code, and therefore the worker's knowledge, from being disseminated outside of the company is of prime importance. It is a closed system, with restrictions on information access (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.18). Freemasonry of the Middle Ages was the equivalent of a proprietary knowledgebased community too. The value of their trade was born of the fact very few people knew how to work the stone and create the complex supporting structures. The arrival of the printing press in 1440 was a double edged blade for masons. It both provided them with greater authority enabling them to sing from the same song-book, whilst also threatening to lessen the worth of that knowledge, accessible as it now was in books (Wikipedia, 2016). Hence information became restricted and books with-held from all but the grand-masons.

Knowledge was, and is, power.

The best way to devolve power across a greater number of people and safeguard our freedoms is to make that information freely available. Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia are two examples of a closed and open system respectively. In the past, users of Britannica would encounter many more barriers to information when compared to modern sources. Not just because it was necessary to physically buy the book but because it took decades to review and

19

Free Architecture – Defining Value

Figure 1: Wikipedia: SOPA, n.d.

update information before being re-published. Whereas, with its free and speedy system of peer review, open charitable donations and freedom to contribute, Wikipedia (figure 1) has no such problem. It is a free economy of reputation and altruism (Ratti 2015, p.88).

The same is also true of other software platforms such as the Linux OS, Netscape's Mozilla Firefox, and the free word editing platform Apache OpenOffice (with which this document has been written).

Linux was the first software platform developed using open-source methods of production tapping into the wealth of knowledge, talent

20

Free Architecture – Defining Value

and ethics of sharing of the hacker community. Glyn Moody recounts a memory of Rich Sladkey's, one of the early kernel (sourcecode) hackers, in Rebel Code: 'Sladkey recalls the first time he found and sent a bug to Linus: "my first contribution was importing some program, probably one of my smaller personal projects. I discovered a bug. Since Linux came with source, my first inclination as a hacker was to take a look under the hood and see if I could fix the problem. I found that although I had never done any kernel work, that I was able to navigate around the code pretty easily and provide a small patch to correct the problem.

"With my heart beating and my palms sweating, I composed the most professional message I could muster and sent it off to linus.torvalds@cs.Helsinki.fi describing the bug and including my proposed fix. Minutes later he replied something like, 'Yep, that's a bug. Nice investigation. Thanks. Fixed,' and I was hooked."' (2002, p.58) Netscape was the next to follow announcing in 1998 that it was to take Communicator, it's flagship web browser, now Mozilla, opensource. For many this moved smacked of desperation for a company with no other avenues left to explore. But any doubts over the validity of the free-software approach were silenced in June of the

21

Free Architecture – Defining Value

same year when major industry player IBM joined them in offering not just entry-level, but commercial, enterprise-level support for freesoftware in the shipment of its Apache Web server, with WebSphere Application Server included (Moody, 2002, p.205), which in turn lead to the development of OpenOffice.

These platforms typify the technocratic idealism present in free software ideology, willing as people are to forego monetary gain in order to preserve the implied freedoms and the altruistic notion of sharing (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.35). It is a system that draws many parallels with the scientific community where reputation and reliable results hold sway over all else, and are the key to continued success in the industry. In order to ensure the reliability of reports and further our collective understanding of the world, studies must be free from bias and external influences. Reports are never published for financial gain. Studies funded by private individuals are considered untrustworthy as the likelihood of personal agendas distorting results increases. Maintaining a good reputation is dependent on the preservation of un-biased, rational and accurate results.

The practices and ethics dictated by free and open-source methods are a means for people to exert political will on the establishment.

Ratti confirms for us:

22

Free Architecture – Defining Value

'Free software has become analogous to free speech, free press, assembly, and petition: it is a means not only to express a political stance, but also to enact it. As Kelty said, it is "a reorientation of knowledge and power."' (2015, p.70) Reflecting back on Price's theory of enabling, in Shouldn't We All Be Developers?, Roger Zogolovitch employs the analogy of the developer as restauranteur and the architect as chef (2015). Cooking has often been used to make comparisons with open-source models of development, whereby recipes are exchanged freely as design ideas would be, which a chef can then play with and adapt to suit their own tastes. Price also employed this comparison, speaking of the architect as a generator of ideas where draft layouts are like recipes on the menu inclusive of its component parts (the side orders!) from which the client chooses (figures 2 and 3), the plate is the architecture which can be moved from one part of the table to another via a free-space, operational matrix, and the table its supportive infrastructure (Price, 2003, p.90). Clients could use modern manufacturing techniques in a similar way the open-hand project uses 3D printing (figure 4) as its primary means of production (Gibbard 2013). People are free to download either the full hand or component parts from online resources and print it themselves.

Modern manufacturing could enable people to potentially bypass costly material and manufacturing set-up costs, whilst at the same

23

Free Architecture – Defining Value

Figure 3: Homemade is Best IKEA Recipes (dzn_, n.d.)

24

Free Architecture – Defining Value

Figure 4: 3D printed Open Hand Project (dextrus, n.d.)

25

Free Architecture – Defining Value

time giving them overall freedom to dictate construction processes ensuring building values important to them such as space, quality of light and sustainability do not fall by the wayside.

Unfortunately these kinds of value appear to be in short supply when looking at a large number of contemporary developments. Price's concerns seem to resonate with us even now: 'The built environment is becoming a generous repository of buildings for nervous minds rather than a three-dimensional manifestation of a current optimistic civilisation...

It is indicative of a nervous society that in any comment on the social value of its built environment a considerable amount of time is spent, as in this article, in discussing conservation rather than innovation...' (2003, p.37) On top of a pre-occupation with conservation, the UK's planning system has wandered off course and seemingly forgotten about it's social imperative of searching to implement a 'collective value' or common good. Instead it is too heavily weighted on the generation of profit which leads to a sense of detachment for normal people. By contrast to main-land Europe, the UK building industry is dominated by a speculative, profit-driven market (Parvin 2008). Clearly profit is a pre-requesit for any construction firm to function, but for many

26

Free Architecture – Defining Value

developers this is their sole focus which in turn makes them very risk averse as they don't know who exactly they are building for, and means they look to maximise profits wherever possible, often at the expense of other important forms of value. A shortage of supply and increased demand for land makes it an important source of revenue for developers. As land is retained by private developers and traded on its own value, it becomes a form of closed resource. Taxation burdens of affordable housing make the situation worse still, as developers are even less inclined to actually build on plots whilst locals are asked to fit a portion of the bill for implementing them when they are built (Zogolovitch 2015, p.88).

It is perhaps because of reasons like these that for those who can't afford to engage with architect's and feel they have been let down by unimaginative interventions within their towns/ cities, many no longer see architecture when they look around, all they see is a building industry from which they feel detached (Pearman 2013, p.39). The architect has become an irrelevance and folly for people of this train of thought, and has sparked real disdain from some social commentators. Ratti quotes an open letter to the profession from one such disillusioned person, author Annie Choi: 'Choi‌casually announced to the architecture community that they were irrelevant: architects "all design glass dildos that I will

27

Free Architecture – Defining Value

never work or live in and serve only to obstruct my view of New Jersey… I do not care about architecture. It is true, this is what I do care about: burritos; hedgehog; coffee. As you can see, architecture is not on the list. I believe that architecture falls somewhere between toenail fungus and invasive colonoscopy in the list of things that interest me." Behind the indelicate language, Choi was actually making an incisive criticism'. (2015, p.99) It was a plea to the profession: we know what we need and want, so if you are serious about wanting to make lasting positive impacts on where we live then you need to show greater care and understanding for the communities you serve if you want to avoid the profession taking itself too seriously and imploding, the pitfall of “naval gazing” as Ratti puts it (2015, p.100) This serves to confirm how relevant free and open-source methods will become in reassuring disillusioned pockets of people and regain their confidence in the system. They are seeing value stripped from their environment and currently feel powerless to affect it. Their voices need to be heard and it will be crucial to create a language that is as lucid as possible to enable greater participation. Chopra and Dexter refer to the literary novels George Orwell's 1984 and Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville in citing the importance of language to democratic and free process, whereby, as is described in the book's

28

Free Architecture – Defining Value

fictional scenarios, 'When language, and the power to control it, is hidden from us, we are no longer free.' (2015, 173). By association, when code and architectural infrastructures are opaque/ restricted, we behave in conformity with the systems designed and hand over control (2015, 173).

So how do we ensure information being received is reliable?

Through transparent processes? Theoretically the collective intelligence of the hive mind is better than those of the well-informed few unless where lead by misinformation. Again, the answer lies in the methodology itself. We see a useful precedent in Wikipedia whereby, with enough participation and genuine conversation, peer review and sharing of information helps avoid the occurrence of misinformation. Here also is another area where the architect can help. They would fulfil their role as enabler by overseeing and managing feedbacks to input them into the overall design and explain complications to participants. As in free software, where the design is free and the proprietary goods are removed from the 'manufacturing' process, it is the overall service that benefits, and is where the commodity lies (Moody 2002, p.237).

Modern technologies will create much better value for money and the concept of the mass bespoke becomes an affordable option as manufacturing becomes more accessible through democratised

29

Free Architecture – Defining Value

processes. This should in turn offer the self-builder a wider variety of choices to include other technologies which, due to cost implications, may have previously been inaccessible, such as important energy saving technologies (Baseley 2013). This also has a knock-on effect for the speculative market. As the popularity of selfbuild gains a larger and larger foothold in the construction industry, speculative builders will have a greater range of precedents to draw from that illustrate what people really want out of a home. They will see the value placed on space, natural light, material quality and sustainability to name but a few, which in turn should see the types of property on offer diversify. After all, why would someone go to buy a private, speculative build if their standard falls short of what you can get on a self-build market for the same money?

2 ……

Context is Relative

When we consider the history of participation in architecture and whether or not we will ever bear witness to an operational model like that of authorial design, the pessimists standpoint has thus, with good reason, been: 'The simple answer is: no. Even today, almost fifty years later, it doesn't seem so. That energy contained in the white hot ideas of collective design that razed modernism, that had architects and theorists from Price to Carlo buzzing, all but fizzled out.' (Ratti 2015, p.44) But they are not thinking in broad enough terms to consider the evolution of our built environments. Some would argue 'participatory' models as a definition were not strictly speaking necessary until the advent of the architect and planners. After all, the notion of an “architect” is not a particularly long-

31

Free Architecture – Context is relative

standing one, at least not on the scale at which it operates today.

Freemasons were the architects of their time, but they were in relatively short supply and the majority of buildings were designed and built by the people themselves. Architect and founder of the open-building platform WikiHouse, Alastair Parvin, suggests that the evolution of our towns and cities was shaped not by architects or masons but by the same social, technological and economic forces that influenced everything (Ratti 2015, p.28). The Dutchman and fellow architect and theorist, John Habraken shares a similar assessment but defines it in organic terms. As Ratti quotes him in Open Source Architecture: "The term [organic] is justified because by a slow but continuous process of renewal, improvement, and adaptation of individual houses, cities had a self-generating ability. Houses functioned like living cells of a fabric."' (2015, p.28) We find further evidence of this thinking in the aftermath of the great fire of London in 1666. The fire itself destroyed about 1.76 square kilometres of the city and following this destruction the King saw an opportunity to remake the city to meet it's contemporary needs and provide for its future expansion. Christopher Wren subsequently proposed a whole-sale master plan for the city which the King and his ministers approved. However just three days later they overturned

32

Free Architecture – Context is relative

Figure 5: Beijing hutong cycling tour (Gentry, 2016)

33

Free Architecture – Context is relative

this decision and were forced to settle for a more modest set of controls as the merchants had already begun to rebuild their damaged buildings over existing plots (Zogolovitch, 2015, p.126).

People took it upon themselves to exercise their right to build, they knew no other way. Vernacular was defined by their innate way of building. Ratti goes on to quote Habraken further: 'City-forming, he found, happened with the advent of agriculture and the beginnings of economy – Labour became specialised, and objects acquired value beyond sustenance. From that point of origin, there is a clear development history of cities for thousands of years: it is a story of collective action, where sociability contributes more to the momentum of culture than individual action could.' (2015, p.28).

We see this happening in cities the world over. Modern Beijing in particular is a city wrestling with a desire to “open” to the outside world whilst simultaneously trying to resolve conflicts between tradition and globalism (Sorkin 2008, p.51). When walking or cycling through the streets of the remaining hutongs, you get a real sense of public creation and the strength of community that this must encourage. The streets kink, turn, dissect and converge as they straddle a maze of single storey, grey brick-clad courtyard houses, their elaborate front doors proclaiming the importance of the people

34

Free Architecture – Context is relative

that reside there, whilst doors left open reveal a very domestic and in many cases somewhat cramped entryway as modern additions have edged their way in-between the walls. The character of the streets also completely changes as the day moves from morning to afternoon and evening; providing as they do a calm oasis from the city as a shaded retreat under the canopy of tree-lined avenues during the day (figure 5), and by night a lively hub of activity where community interactions are forged in amongst the hurly-burly of the city over great food and games (Sorkin 2008, p.49). For China's largest city, these densely populated rectangles surrounding the Forbidden City maintain a surprisingly domestic and village-like feel, albeit a busy one. It is only when you reach the end of a hutong as the roads break out onto the main thoroughfares you are reminded you are in a vast and bustling city defined by a terrestrial expression of celestial geometry (figure 6), as roads span north to south and east to west along the axes of the Forbidden City (Sorkin 2008, p.49).

It would seem lessons learnt from previous years where development caused the decimation of many hutongs are beginning make an impact. As you amble or cycle your way through the streets occasionally you will stumble across a hutong that is being re-built in the same traditional manner (figure 7) and seemingly in the same spirit yet with incremental changes. Elsewhere, other hutongs are witnessing the complete regeneration of an area, again using the

35

Free Architecture – Context is relative

Figure 6: Forbidden City from Jingshãn Park (Gentry, 2016).

Figure 7: New hutong construction (Gentry, 2016)

36

Free Architecture – Context is relative

same old methods and style, but with the addition of modern infrastructure – each of these houses will come with a bathroom! It is clear to see what a positive impact social creation and definition of place has on a sense of belonging to an area. Price uses a metaphor of an ancient tree to describe these places, writing: 'Few criticise an ancient tree for being 'old-fashioned' or 'out-ofdate', yet such is its capacity to age that few also stay its eventual felling. However, throughout its life it will have changed in size, demeanour and capacity to protect and shelter.' (Price 2003, p.72) He wished for this natural beneficial change to be incorporated within the initial design intent of new projects. As the tree changes with time so too does the city through its inhabitant's actions. If planning infrastructure hinders people's ability to adapt to their environments through befuddling controls then it heightens a sense of detachment from place. The challenge is to bring community and infrastructure together in a complementary, comprehensible manner.

A mirror to contemporary problems with architectural practice and planning infrastructure can be seen in the attempts to prevent the production of software from returning to its roots. Adversaries to the movement claim due to a lack of economic competition, the

37

Free Architecture – Context is relative

production of quality software via these methods is not possible. But this argument is severely reductive and presumes there is only one reason for the creation of quality software, competition, and ignores the variety of social benefits that motivate people. Not to mention the reason for its inception in the first place, which was due to 'a response to the lack of software vendors in the fledgling market of the time.' (Chopra and Dexter, 2008, p.34). Free architecture is a response to a lack of housing in times of crisis and the seeming inability of government and developers to plug the gap with anything remotely affordable to the low or middle income earner. The knockon effect of this will be to create a more robust industry better equipped to deal with future market fluctuations as we will have rid ourselves of an over-reliance on speculative building (Parvin et al 2008, p.32-33). As outlined in the previous chapter, this should also see an improvement in the general quality of our built environment as developers learn the variety of people's aspirations for their homes through alternative models, providing greater confidence in an ability to innovate in the knowledge consumers find this is desirable, more so than a gain in profit. Zogolovitch warns against an over-reliance on volume house-builders, which these methods look to dissipate, stating: 'The state should be wary of and review their dependence upon the volume housebuilders. Mass providers of any service or

38

Free Architecture – Context is relative

product do not innovate, create excellence or change what they offer. Small, independent developers, that include us all, are able to understand what the customers want. They are flexible enough to tailor their products to the changes being demanded by their customers. They can provide a balance and respond to the variety of demands that frustrate the development of small gap sites in the city.' (2015, p.131) Just as the 'kernels' of open-source software development provide the framework from which individuals can compile their own projects, architectural infrastructure can be provided to inform and enable the self-builder. Control of the actual form of our environment is relinquished to the consumer for them to fit into the networks provided. A multitude of different approaches to self-build are available to us, each fitting a particular niche and requiring a slightly different set of skills (Wilding 2013, p.7).

Two primary contemporary solutions present themselves to us. One is in Carillion Igloo's custom-build concept (figure 8) involving collaboration with various architects such as Ash Sakula and their Lightbox House (figure 9). This is a type of 'self-commission' project as Parvin et al describe it, whereby customisation within set design parameters is possible to ensure the house meets your requirements, but there is no onus on you to either manage or deliver the project,

39

Free Architecture – Context is relative

Figure 8: Igloo Regeneration Heartlands concept (Custom_Build, n.d.)

Figure 9: Lightbox House by Ash Sakula for Igloo (long-section, n.d.)

40

Free Architecture – Context is relative

you are simply ordering off of the menu with your own special requirements (Parvin et al 2008, p.38). What the developer has done is set up a common supply chain and system of construction for the development, but with a range of different architectural solutions provided by a number of different architects. They have provided prospective buyers with a freedom of choice. First, you choose your pre-set type of home, you then configure this to meet your specific needs in finishes, no of bedrooms, number of stories etc, before finally signing off on the design and letting the developer do all the hard work.

The second example comes in the aforementioned WikiHouse (figure 10). WikiHouse is at the opposite end of the self-build spectrum as a true self-build project, whereby a buyer would keep both the development gain and production profit of the build by doing it all themselves through sourcing local manufacturer's to make component parts etc (Parvin et al 2008, p.37). WikiHouse is a true open-source platform for development and a model which could even be considered truly 'free'. It doesn't just use open-source platforms for the sharing and sourcing of ideas, but open-source tools of manufacture as well. If a model like this were to be adopted on a wider basis, it would mark a huge cultural shift toward a free architecture. Through the use of modern technology, free online tools and consultant designers, the self-builder could potentially

41

Free Architecture – Context is relative

42

Free Architecture – Context is relative

handle the whole of the build process themselves. From design, to manufacture using CNC mills etc (figure 11) to construction. They would have full freedom to create through a 'meaningfully lower threshold for design and fabrication', democratizing the process of building in the same way the home printer democratised the printing press and youtube democratized broadcasting (Ratti 2015, p.93).

However, in order for the full effect of these technologies to be felt, local planning authority (LPA) guidelines and legislation will need to shift in unison to accommodate these new paradigms. As yet change has been slow to take hold.

Some measures have started to take shape, specifically in the provision of land. We need to get eligible pockets out of a cyclical market of in-trading and into the hands of people that will actually build upon it. The Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act was made Government policy in 2015 which placed a responsibility on local councils to make provision in local plans and initiatives for individuals and groups who want to build their own homes (Tozer and Ullmayer 2016, p.43). But councils need more motivation or incentives to encourage them to hand over land to the less lucrative self-build industry. Zogolovitch suggests the London Land Commission's (LLC) remit should be expanded. They should become vested in all LPA redundant land parcels and intervene in instances where the LPA hand's have been forced to place land in the more

43

Free Architecture – Context is relative

profitable auction market. They would step in and have it removed and placed in a 'development marketplace that may only purchase to develop rather than to trade on the land' 2015, p.53). The self-build marketplace would become the cheapest place to pick up new property as land values will be traded on only once with a preference for private individuals on smaller pockets, reducing the overall build price. Developers looking to ensure their final built product is competitively priced in financial, spacial, material, wellbeing and energy terms will need to reduce their overheads also, making them think twice about land-trading which would only serve to drive up the cost of the final build. This would enable local people to gain back control of their built environment, injecting their own pockets of influence and inspiration into our urban fabric and once again becoming a contributing force in defining context and a sense of place that reflects their individual desires and aspirations.

3 ‌‌

For Better or Worse

Price was especially aware of the profession's need to change in the 1960's, but it would seem only now that we find ourselves in a dirge for architectural projects that produce real transformation for the betterment of society (TED2013, 2013) that we are being forced to reconsider our approach. In the absence of philanthropic activity from the traditional source of societies architectural transformations, the top 1% of earners in the world (TED2013, 2013), we face the challenge of deciphering how we provide the amateur with an ability to do it themselves, and consider how the profession needs to/ will adapt. For The Potteries Thinkbelt (figure 12), his infamous proposal for a new Staffordshire university, Price was to propose a university campus linked by the old rail network in a move to unshackle our centres of learning from, as he saw it, an inaccessible centralised system which promoted congestion and physical and psychological isolation. He saw the power of networks to create open, accessible, flexible places for

45

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

Figure 12: Potteries Thinkblet by Cedric Price (AA Files, 1985)

46

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

integrated learning. Later, in his Oakland County Adult Education Network, Detroit, he was to further this theory by proposing: 'information technology as a substitute for conventional, centralised built structures, and explore the possibilities of computer-learning systems with video monitor facilities to be located either in mobile or built environments. Additionally, he was to propose the use of large-scale displays, sometimes projected into the sky using holograms or alternatively projected onto the faces of existing built structures, to create city-scale wall displays ' (Price 2003, p.15) He foresaw the implications of an information network and its ability to disseminate knowledge more widely. Indeed the RIBA's own OBE Examination in Architecture makes use of these very tools to enable people to learn remotely, as does the Open University. They are both open networks of learning themselves. Just as Price's enthusiasm for technology made him such a good questioner using it to 'expose inadequacies in the conventional wisdom of architecture while at the same time celebrating the possibilities of thoughtful supportive environments' (Price 2003, p.11), we should be taking the lead from our educational institutions and deploying the same ideas and infrastructures into our professional practice.

47

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

After all our environment shapes us as much as we shape it, hence if we wish to live in a free, equal and interconnected world promoting greater opportunity, tolerance, understanding, innovation and happiness we had better hope our environment reflects this. Contrary to a classical understanding of man's relation to nature, as Chopra and Dexter summarise in their quotes of Deleuze and Guattari and Haraway in Decoding Liberation: '”...[M]an and nature are not like two opposite terms confronting each other…rather, they are one and the same essential reality” ...

Machines, then, are, “indissociable human extensions (an extended phenotype)”' …, demonstrating that humans and nature are one.' (2008, p.146-147).

As such the specifications of our environment are not purely functional, but govern our ontological and political reality too. The free-software community shares this understanding and place the control and restriction of code in league with a dilution of essential liberties (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.151). Echoing this concern, in Rebel Code Moody quotes Berners-Lee's plea of 1991: '”The concept of the web is of universal readership. If you publish a document on the web, it is important that anyone who has access to it can read it and link to it.”' (2002, p.183)

48

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

49

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

This is the basis on which the WikiHouse concept depends, the sharing and free-exchange of ideas. Parvin proposes the use of a “Wikipedia of stuff” (TED2013, 2013) for anyone to publish, download and amend designs in the same way hackers contribute to free-software platforms or recipes communicate food. Websites such as the 3D printing resource Thingiverse and Instructables (figures 13 + 14) provide a template for the operation of open-source design platforms, as did design pioneer Enzo Mari in creating the Sedia 1 chair (figure 15) who sought to create objects that could educate and disseminate design knowledge more widely. The design was presented in effect as a recipe for people to follow, and is now even available as a CAD download. Design instructions are a kind of tangible genetic material and throw up questions of authorship over the physical object (Ratti 2015, p.83-85). Hence the profession will need to look to alternative means of exercising their rights. We will have to move from a product-based industry to a service-based one.

Designs will be published using a creative commons license, which protects authorship of an idea but not at the expense of the ability to share it or for people to amend it and publish themselves as they see fit. Credit is given to the originator whilst creative freedoms are preserved. As Ratti explains the author of the work 'is no longer the sole, hermetic, inviolable proprietor of [his or her] work, but rather the visionary branch of a tree that sprouts twigs and buds with each additional collaborator' (2015, p.85).

50

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

Illustration 1: Figure 15: Enzo Mari Sedia 1 Chair for Artek (Artek, n.d.)

51

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

An upshot of this would mean the possibility of making a living through traditional avenues will be all but impossible under the guise of free-architecture. Decisions over how to tackle this is something the profession and wider community will need to consider at large if they want to participate in its future. Free-software communities have faced the same dilemma in the past. They had to make a decision over whether or not 'value in a financial sense was to be resisted, and if it was, then what form it would take' (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.27). They looked to licensing in order to solve this problem and the end result was what we now know as a “creative commons� license. The proposal is that whomever authored an idea would choose from the license what rights they wish to preserve and which they are happy to waive for the benefit of the community (Wikipedia 2016). Hence rather than the license existing to protect the copyright as in the case of proprietary software and traditional manufacturing, in free models the copyright exists to protect the license; to protect the core ethics of production. Hence any terms that are agreed under these licenses ensure that where services are additional these do not impede users inalienable freedoms.

The former charitable organisation Open Architecture Network offers an idea of how architectural networks may operate. They aimed to incorporate and enable users to:

52

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

'- Share ideas, designs, and plans; - View and review designs posted by others; - Collaborate with each other, people in other professions, and community leaders, to address specific design challenges; - Manage design projects from concept to implementation; - Communicate easily among team members; - Protect their intellectual property rights using the Creative Commons "some rights reserved" licensing system and be shielded from unwarranted liability; - Build a more sustainable future.' (Open Architecture Network 2016) But where and how will these forums manifest themselves? To use another product analogy, Zogolovitch suggests branding will be essential in attracting people, in this case both potential clients and “hacker� participants, to a particular system (2015, p.75-76). Current self-build platforms represent merely one option, one system, one way forward. But free-architecture is about a freedom of choice as much as a freedom to build, which means developing a variety of options. WikiHouse represents one type of brand, as do some developers such as Urban Splash and Igloo Regeneration as well as the more controversial Poundbury (figures 16 + 17). Though its architectural significance is of little merit, it does represent a development with a distinctive look and feel. The streets and

53

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

Figure 16: Park Hill refurbishment by Urban Splash (PARK, n.d.)

Figure 17: Poundbury, Dorchester by Adam Architecture (pound, n.d.)

54

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

buildings have been deliberately laid out to create a certain effect as you move around the town, with clear consideration given to approach routes and a building's scale within those views. Hence whilst it may lack a sense of place for now at least, it does represent a specific sytle, a brand, which may well appeal to many people. It will be open versions of brands like these ones that will become the 'hosts' to new forums for sharing, design and debate. Forums represent virtual open factories (VOF), and rely on distribution of labour, an enhanced form of division of labour. These open factories will become an important domain of the architect and one way in which they are ideally suited to help. It is within these diverse and non-hierarchal communities where the genesis of ideas for new buildings will be generated, and the architect will need to exercise a delicate mix of cooperation and co-optation in order to manage them (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.23). Just as Linus Torvalds oversaw the development of Linux and all of the fixes that came in from the hacker community (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.26), architects will be charged with managing and compiling the many inputs from architect-hackers to ensure the overall vision is not lost and proposed revisions work for all.

Wiling confirms our previous analysis of the effect our environment has on us; this way of working will have knock on effects for the

55

Free Architecture – For Better or Worse

character of the buildings that are produced as a result. He summarises: 'It is not just the design process that will be different. Co-housing projects are often designed with a more communal way of life in mind, a significant departure from work for major house-builders.

“It is a completely different design ethos to do with minimising private space and maximising shared spaces,” says Yates. “It is not about creating territorial pockets but creating opportunities for incidental interaction.”' (Wilding 2013, p.7) In a non-hierarchal, reputation-based, gift economy, the delicacy with which the architect conducts themselves and manages these processes will be the key to their future success.

4 ‌‌

In Richer or Poorer

Our current situation finds many people, professional and nonprofessional alike, disillusioned with the current state of affairs.

An apparent creep of societal inequalities is compounding our inability to tackle the ongoing crises of the housing shortage combined with a rising cost of property that, if left unchecked, will make the country unaffordable for all but the most wealthy.

In a country where 'average' earning expectations actually put us within the top 22% of earners in the country (Monster 2016; Institute for Fiscal Studies 2016) and top 2% of the world (TED2013 2013), this is an untenable situation to be in. If architecture continues to cater purely for the wealthier sections of society we will run the risk of divorcing ourselves from an ability to affect real, positive transformative change. Ratti expresses deep concern and poses awkward questions over current aspirations:

57

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

'Increasingly, the modus operandi is to design buildings with as much visibility and cultural importance as possible, rather than to address the questions at the root of human habitation (to say nothing of social utopias). The engine of architecture has become geared towards the privileged few: today, buildings designed by architects account for no more than two percent of global construction. Easterling has observed that "the building as a singularly authored object is responsible for a relative trickle of the world's spaces while a firehose blasts out the rest."

Globetrotting star architects have gathered what appears to be absolute control, unconditional omniscience, and supreme authority, yet their oeuvre amounts to almost nothing.' (2015, p.21) Perhaps in its current state expanding the breadth of architectural practice to encompass the other 98 percent may not be a good thing if we impose the same burden of bureaucracy onto it limiting people's ability to influence their own lives. The aim of open-source communities and methods is to empower people; to disseminate knowledge and not to limit its application. Price's aspirations ring true today as they did in his time: 'Planning must become preventative rather than curative of social ills; economic ills are often a case of bad book-keeping of such social ills' (Price 2003, p.38).

Have we then lost sight of these social ills? Curative measures are not

58

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

making the impact that is needed and recent referendums on Scotland and the EU would suggest there is a large undercurrent of dissatisfaction, and despite government reassurances of a healthy economy there still remain questions over stability and debt. So why are we not able to affect change to the degree in which it is needed?

It would appear the distribution of wealth and power is disproportionate, and we are in desperate need of a shake up. Freesoftware and free/ open-source models of development may provide us with this 'reorientation of knowledge and power' that they represent (Ratti 2015, p.70). In light of the business reality that: 'volume housebuilders improve their profitability by constraining supply – which acts as a brake on the construction of new homes' (Zogolovitch 2015, p.74), it certainly seems we are long overdue one. In order for this to happen then planning and architecture will need to move on these problems together. With figures released in 2015 suggesting that 60% of redundant land is held by local authorities (Zogolovitch 2015, p.26), they will play a crucial role in determining how this land makes its way into the hands of builders.

Software development history documents one of conflict, innovation and growth between three main groups: the large manufacturing corporations of technical goods, university scientific researchers, and the hacker community (Chopra and Dexter 2008, p.16). A contemporary history of the construction industry sees us in a similar

59

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

conflict between local authorities with land to sell, large development corporations, small-scale self-builders, and architects/ designers. As things stand we don't seem to be prepared to take the steps to tackle the current crises, but with the use of modern technology we can begin to take big steps towards a solution through engaging with networks for sharing. Not normally ones to be left behind in pursuit of new technologies, many architects find the consequences of new-media's broader application and consequences daunting and fussy. But we need to start giving this serious consideration if we want to have a fair say in the future evolution of the profession. It seems open-source and freearchitecture development models will come whether we like it or not, hence it is important that we prepare accordingly (Lowenstein 2015, 182). Chopra and Dexter highlight the significance of our current closed, and heavily burdened system versus the potential of online communities: 'By analogy, as political theorists never tire of pointing out, the mere freedom to choose leaders once every four years means little if other freedoms are traded away. In the nominally democratic society, one kind of protocol, say, the organisation of elections, can be free, but if other layers are restrained and restricted (e.g. regulated media or a judiciary hampered by the legislature), the

60

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

freedom facilitated by the more fundamental protocol maybe dissipated.

The physical structure of the Internet presents a suggestive story about the concentration of power – it contains "backbones" and "hubs" – but power on the Internet is not spatial but informational; power inheres in protocol.' (2015 p.152) Familiarising ourselves with this world will lead to exciting new opportunities and expand the remit of the profession to find new value in its ability to enable the amateur. New media hubs/ forums/ VOF's are to modern times what Walter Segal's self-build method (figure 18) was to the 1970's; they are radical ideas, an antithesis to established practice (Lowenstein 2015, 188). The only other alternative would be to let the status quo and shortage of new homes continue, leading to the loss of more green belt land to lobbies from volume housebuilders (Zogolovitch 2015, p.19). Whilst this may occur to some extent regardless of what other measures are introduced, there is a clear need to address an imbalance in the system. The construction industry will benefit hugely from a more robust model incorporating a greater portion of self-built homes.

With proper management of land resources smaller companies will introduce competition that will drive up the quality of larger scale developer projects, driving up all kinds of value in our built environment much to the benefit of people's wellbeing and

61

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

Figure 18: Walter Segal's Self-Build Method (56_segal, n.d.)

62

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

happiness. We will see a rise in confidence in the system's ability to meet people's expectations of and aspirations for our towns and centres, whilst also fulfilling an inalienable right to shelter and freedom to build.

The key difference between new forms of participation from past methods is the depth at which they enable our interactions. When new radio technology first appeared at the turn of the 20th century, it blew wide-open new means of communication making the world feel like a much smaller place. It felt like suddenly all the world was one big 'global village'. But radio communication is either received or broadcast, it is not conversational in nature. Often planning processes which aim to increase participation fall short for this very reason. All planners receive is a set of opposing opinions broadcasted to each other. Left with a melee of opinions to sort through with no real understanding generated can prove crippling to the process. But internet forums have re-created the 'age-old village metric. The Internet allows a two-way exchange of ideas, not just a broadcast, and this cocktail of discord and collectivism can be remarkably productive, as proven by open-source software' (Ratti 2015, p.67).

How well we are able to deal with the feedbacks from these improved interactions will be dictated by the effectiveness of our

63

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

questions. In Cerdic Price: Works II, Ranulph Glanville recounts of one of the best architectural questioners we've ever had: 'If we want to improve the condition of our planet, we must realise that it is not what we do that matters, but the questions we ask that lead to our actions. The intelligent asking of these questions is the designer's area, and Cedric is one of the few who will ask, even demanding a fee for asking and telling a client not to do anything....I don't know that I believe his designed and built buildings are the greatest, but I am convinced that his approach to the role of the architect is essential to us now, more than ever.'

(2003, p.80) We are as well equipped today as we are ever likely to be to fulfil the ideas and promise of Price's Philosophy of Enabling. All of the ingredients are there. We have the networks for sharing our designs and ideas, the people or “hacker culture” to play with and scrutinise them, a system of protecting our rights through creative commons, the democratised tools of open-source manufacturing, even the finance or manpower to make it happen through kickstarter and other platforms. (Ratti 2015, p.94). So what are we waiting for? With the democratisation of production comes a return to the “timeless way of building”, where the creation of vernacular is dictated by those who occupy the landscape; both anonymous and organic in

64

Free Architecture – In Richer or Poorer

nature. Parvin suggests with the adoption of new technologies the rule of 'monolithic, top-down, financially-capitalized, one-size-fitsall models' of authorial design may be viewed as just a blip in the creation of our cultural history (Ratti 2015, p.96). Through these technologies we may move forward with an enabled citizenship; faith reignited, value reaffirmed. Whether or not the profession will be wealthier for it is surely an arbitrary point? We will be richer and happier as a people.

65

Free Architecture – Bibliography

Bibliography Books & Reports Chopra, S., and Dexter, S., 2008. Decoding Liberation: The promise of free and open source software. New York; London: Routledge.

Davidson, C., 1998. Legacies For the Future: Contemporary architecture in Islamic societies. London: Thames & Hudson.

Gobman, Y. J. and Neuman, E., 2011. Performalism: Form & Performance in Digital Architecture. Routledge.

Hohmann, J., 2015. Protecting the Right to Housing in England: A Context of Crisis. [pdf] Just Fair. Available at: <http://www.just-fair.co.uk/reports> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

Lomax, P. A., 1969. Network Analysis: applications to the building industry.

London: English Universities Press.

Moody, G., 2002. Rebel Code: Linux and the open source revolution.

London: Penguin Price, C., 2003. The Square Book. Wiley, Chichester.

Parvin, A., 2008. The Profit Function: Navigating Architecture's Bottom Line. [pdf] Issuu. Available at: <https://issuu.com/alastairparvin/docs/the_profit_function> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Parvin, A., Saxby, S., Cerulli, C. and Schneider, T., 2008. A Right to Build: The next mass-housebuilding industry. [pdf] Issuu. Available at: <https://issuu.com/alastairparvin/docs/2011_07_06_arighttobuild> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Ratti, C. with Claudel, M., 2015. Open Source Architecture. London: Thames & Hudson.

66

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Reynaud, C. B., 1967. The Critical Path: Network analysis applied to building. George Goodwin for the Builder.

Scott, J., 2013. Social Network Analysis. Los Angeles: SAGE. WikiHouse, 2016. WikiHouse. [pdf] Wikihouse. Available at: <http://www.wikihouse.cc/WikiHouse_Partners_2016_v1.7.1.pdf> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Zogolovitch, R., 2015. Shouldn't we all be developers? Artifice Books on Architecture.

Journal Articles Baseley, S., 13th May 2013. Can Self-Build Make a Major Contribution to UK Housing? Building Design, (1965), p.9.

Bishop, J., September 2009. Localism, Collaborative Planning and Open Source. Town and Country Planning, 79(9), pp.376-381.

Bose, S., Jan./Feb. 2014. If You Build It. Blueprint, (332), pp.88-106.

Farnsworth, D., April 2015. Towards a New Kind of Planning. Town and Country Planning, 84(4), pp.185-189.

Field, M., Feb. 2014. Reviewing Self-Build. Town and Country Planning, 83(2), pp.77-79.

Hancock, D., Sept. 2014. Enough Slum Porn. Architectural Review, 236(1411), p.22, 25.

Hunter, W., August 2013. McCrowd Funding. Architectural Review, 234(1389), pp.14-15.

Landau, R., 1985. A Philosophy of Enabling: The Work of Cedric Price. AA Files, [online] Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/29543432? seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents> [Accessed 19 September 2016]

67

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Lowenstein, O., Jan./ Feb. 2015. The New Normal. Blueprint, (338), pp.176188.

Morrison, G., March 2016. Learning From...Spaces Between. Architecture Today, (266), p.10.

Palin, T., May 2014. The Art of Building a Slum. Town & Country Planning, 83(5), pp.204-205.

Pearman, H., July 2014. We're the Value-Added. RIBA Journal, 121(7), p.39.

Pritchard, O., Nov. 2015. What Is the Value of Space? Architect's Journal, 242(20), pp.52-55.

Rydin, Y., April 2015. Five Radical Ideas For a Better Planning System.

Town and Country Planning, 84(4), pp.164-166.

Sorkin, M., July 2008. Learning From the Hutong of Beijing and the Lilong of Shanghai. Architectural Record, 196(7), pp.51-52.

Srivathsan, A., May 2016. Towards an Architecture for India. Architectural Review, 239(1431), pp.3-12.

Tozer, L., Ullmayer, S., Jan 2016. Do It Yourself. RIBA Journal, 123(1), pp.42-44.

Walker, J., Sept. 2012. Tomorrow Series: Paper 13. Land Value Capture and Infrastructure Delivery Through SLICs. Town and Country Planning, 81(9), pp.1-8.

Wilding, M., 15th March 2013. Is It Time For a New Self-build Revolution?

Building Design, (2052), pp.6-7.

68

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Online Resources Architecture Foundation, 2015. Walter's Way, Lewisham. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=0JbqJNAUOR8&list=PLEYUOx6I7poRVDv9m52QytpEjjHnDcCbV> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Artek, 2010. Enzo Mari for Artek: Homage to Autoprogettazione. [video online] Available at: <https://vimeo.com/39684024> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Ash Sakula, (Unkown). Lightbox House - about. [online] Available at: <http://www.ashsak.com/project/lightbox-house/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

BBC News, 2016. Can Erdogan heal divisions in Turkey? [video online] (Last updated 23:25 on 16th July 2016) Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36818020> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

BBC News, 2016. Turkey: How the coup attempt unfolded through the night. [video online] (Last updated 19:25 on 16th July 2016) Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36814856> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Bickleigh Down Eco Village, 2012. Welcome to the Bickleigh Down EcoVillage Website. [online] Available at: <http://bickleigh-eco-village.com/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Carney, J., 2013. Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness. South China Morning Post [online] (Last updated 17:59 on 12th February 2015) Available at: <http://www.scmp.com/news/hongkong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Dezeen, 2010. Sedia 1 - Chair by Enzo Mari for Artek. [online] Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2010/04/16/sedia-1-chair-by-enzo-mari-forartek/> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

69

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Gibbard, J., 2013. Home: Welcome. Open Hand Project [online] Available at: <http://www.openhandproject.org> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

HoMEMade Custom Build, [unknown]. Custom Build. [online] Available at: <https://www.homemadeheartlands.co.uk> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Hothi, M., 2012. Does social media really empower local communities?

The Guardian. [online] 1st March. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/communityaction-blog/2012/mar/01/social-media-empower-communities> [Accessed 17 September 2016]. igloo Regeneration, (unknown). Custom Build: Heartlands, Cornwall. [online] Available at: <http://www.iglooregeneration.co.uk/portfolio_page/custom-buildheartlands-cornwall/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2016. Where Do you Fit In? [online] Available at: <https://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

Jalabi, R., Yuhas, A., 2014. Ukraine's revolution and Russia's occupation of Crimea: How we got here. The Guardian [online] 5 March. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/05/ukraine-russiaexplainer> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Kowloon Walled City Park, 2014. History/Background. [online] Available at: <http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/parks/kwcp/index.html> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Lightbox House, 2015. Lightbox House. [online] Available at: <http://lightboxhouse.co.uk> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

LiNUX.COM, 2016. What is Linux? [online] Available at: <https://www.linux.com/what-is-linux> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Mayor of London, 2016. London Land Commission. [online] Available at: <https://www.london.gov.uk/What-we-do/housing-and-land/land-anddevelopment/london-land-commission> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

70

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Monster, 2016. Average Salary Information for the UK. [online] (Last updated on 19th September 2016) Available at: <http://www.monster.co.uk/career-advice/article/uk-average-salary-graphs> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

Murphy, I., 2016. Everyone Wins With Open Source Software. [online] Available at: <https://www.linux.com/news/everyone-wins-open-sourcesoftware> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Open Architecture Collaborative, (Unknown). Design makes it possible for everyone to dream and build. [online] Available at: <http://www.openarchcollab.org/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Open Architecture Network, 2016. Open-Architecture Network. [online] Available at: <https://lender.sg/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Owen, P., 2012. Inside the Kowloon Walled City where 50,000 residents eked out a grimy living in the most densely populated place on earth. Mail Online [online] (Last updaed 15:45 on 5th May 2012) Available at: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-KowloonWalled-City.html> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Social Science Materials, 2011. Ethics of Consumption â&#x20AC;&#x201C; cultural capitalism. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GRvRm19UKdA> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Solidspace, 2016. Solidspace: Making development with Passion. [online] Available at: <http://solidspace.co.uk/> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

TED, 2005. Jimmy Wales: The Birth of Wikipedia. [video online] Available at: <http://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia> [Accessed 18 September 2016].

TED2013, 2013. Alastair Parvin: Architecture For the People By the People. [video online] Available at: <http://www.ted.com/talks/alastair_parvin_architecture_for_the_people_by_ the_people?language=en> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

71

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Thingiverse, 2016. Thingiverse. [online] Available at: <http://www.thingiverse.com> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. The History of Freemasonry. [online] (Last updated on 12th September 2016) Available at: <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Freemasonry#Anderson.27s_Co nstitutions> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Waite, R., 2014. Carillion Igloo unveils designs for pioneering custom-build scheme. Architect's Journal [online] 20 November. Available at: <https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/carillion-igloo-unveils-designsfor-pioneering-custom-build-scheme/8673238.article> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Wall Street Journal, n.d. Kowloon Walled City. [online] Available at: <http://projects.wsj.com/kwc/#chapter=intro> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. Creative Commons. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. Great Fire of London. [online] (Last updated at 19.29 on 10th September 2016) Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. Kowloon Walled City. [online] (Last updated at 09:48 on 17th September 2016) Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. Netscape. [online] (Last updated at 07:21 on 12th September 2016) Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Wikipedia, 2016. Network Theory. [online] (Last updated at 13:10 on 20th August 2016) Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_theory> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

72

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bibliography

Wikipedia, 2016. Open-Source Architecture. [online] (Last updated at 08:27 on 21st June 2016) Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opensource_architecture> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

ZED Factory, 2016. Projects/ Residential: The Zero Bills Home. [online] Available at: <http://www.zedfactory.com/zero-bills-home> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2016. Where Do you Fit In? [online] Available at: <https://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/> [Accessed 19 September 2016].

73

Free Architecture – Image List

Image List Figure 1: [Wikipedia: SOPA protest led 8 million to look up reps in Congress] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/wikipedia-sopablackout-congressional-representatives.html> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 2: [Gallery of Endesa Pavilion / Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) – 13] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.archdaily.com/274900/endesa-pavilioniaac/505be7b228ba0d2713000224-endesa-pavilion-iaac-diagram> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 3: [dzn_Homemade-is-Best-by-IKEA-12] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2010/10/01/homemade-is-best-by-ikea/> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 4: [dextruswhitebackground] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://proto3000.com/makerspace.php> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 5: Gentry, T., 2016. Beijing hutong cycling tour [photograph] (Author's own private collection).

Figure 6: Gentry, T., 2016. Forbidden City from Jingshãn Park [photograph] (Author's own private collection).

Figure 7: Gentry, T., 2016. New hutong construction [photograph] (Author's own private collection).

74

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Image List

Figure 8: [Custom_Build_Heartlands_Cornwall_01] n.b. [image online] Available at: <http://www.iglooregeneration.co.uk/portfolio_page/custom-buildheartlands-cornwall/> [Accessed 14 September 2016].

Figure 9: [long-section-e1431017887715] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://lightboxhouse.co.uk/the-lightbox-design/birth-of-the-lightbox-house2/> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 10: [WikiHouse_Partners_2016_v1.7.1 p.15] 2016 [pdf] Available at: <<http://www.wikihouse.cc/WikiHouse_Partners_2016_v1.7.1.pdf> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Figure 11: [WikiHouse_Partners_2016_v1.7.1 p.6] 2016 [pdf] Available at: <<http://www.wikihouse.cc/WikiHouse_Partners_2016_v1.7.1.pdf> [Accessed 17 September 2016].

Figure 12: [AA Files â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Philosophy of Enabling: The Work of Cedric PriceI] 1985 [image online] Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/29543432? seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 13: [Thingiverse: About Uck] n.d. [website] Available at: <http://www.thingiverse.com/uck/about> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 14: [Instructables: DIY How To Make Instructions] n.d. [website] Available at: <http://www.instructables.com/> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 15: [Artek | Enzo Mari Sedia 1 Chair] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.artek.fi/products/chairs/242> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

75

Free Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Image List

Figure 16: [PARK_221_0211] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/gallery/park-hill> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 17: [pound-block-4.02-8] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://janmaciagarchitects.co.uk/poundbury-block-4-02/> [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Figure 18: [56_segal] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://prefabricate.blogspot.co.uk/2015_04_01_archive.html> [Accessed 20 September 2016].