Architecture for the people by the people

Architect Alastair Parvin presents a simple but provocative idea: what if, instead of architects creating buildings for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses? The concept is at the heart of Wikihouse, an open source construction kit that means just about anyone can build a house, anywhere.

The aim of WikiHouse is to put the knowledge & tools to build beautiful, zero-carbon buildings into the hands of every citizen, community and business.

The big idea behind is the power of ‘many small’. WikiHouse isn’t made by just one company in one large, centralised factory, but by a distributed network of small, local fabricators and assemblers, collaborating on common, shared design solutions. So it’s not just about building homes: it’s also about building local economic capacity, everywhere.

We are creating the infrastructure to tool-up communities and small businesses to build the homes we need.