Open Source White House Redux (HD) from arch1k on Vimeo.

A simple developmental model makes the open-source possible. It bestows involved results, and creates unorthodox cultural bonds and cultural ethics, which seem preferable to many. Herein, a question arises: can one study this phenomenon and employ its prominent concepts in other fields, such the architecture?
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The project is an exploration carried out to challenge my (arch1karch1k) architectural masters thesis, which deals with the open source phenomenon and ways in which it could inform today’s architectural practice. You are invited to partake in this investigation and explore new ways of exchanging ideas, designing, discussing, building, and transforming the architectural zeitgeist altogether.

Edward Solodukhin’s thesis project, Open Source | White House Redux Competition, explores the role of open source by creating and submitting an entry to the White House Redux competition, a competition to redesign the White House (winners to be announced shortly). It is hard to tell how many different people worked on the entry, shown above and at the top of the process page.
The process and procedural notions of an open source are intriguing, and worth study even if visions of Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language bleed into the margins. Unfortunately it appears that Solodukhin faced a situation many open source projects face: a lack of critical mass which sustains and metamorphosis into a self-regulating and perpetuating process.