Accepting the challenge put forth by Wikihouse, (an open source construction system created by the London-based strategy and design practice 00:/, that “allows anyone to download, design, ‘print’ and assemble CNC-milled wooden houses and components easily”), Italian creative agency TWINTIP decided to furnish their workspace entirely from scratch. Using the digital toolkit as a launchpad, the group created low-cost and eco-friendly lighting fixtures, desks, chairs, laptop stands, shelving and more—sketching concepts that are then drafted into cuttable designs for a CNC machine and assembled. What’s more, they’ve shared their plans online so that other individuals or groups can build (or build upon) their functional and aesthetically pleasing designs.
By sharing the work of architects, designers and engineers, this platform sees the possibility of democratizing the built environment. The Wikihouse community has become less of a philosophical hub for discussing the implications and possibilities of the open source movement, and more of a network of active participants, designers and programmers in its development. Under the Creative Commons emblem, the group boasts structurally-sound designs (i.e. mini houses) that can be built in 24 hours, with free blueprints and assembly instructions that require “minimal formal skill or training.”
To represent their ethos, they quote famous economist John Maynard Keynes: “It is easier to ship recipes than cakes and biscuits.” Although still in its experimental phase, the platform has many hands making light work of its evolution.