Wikihouse

https://wikihouse.cc

What is Wikihouse?

There is a group of architects out of the UK that I have been following for the past 10 years. They have formed a nonprofit organization that is focused on eliminating the global housing crisis through affordable modular, self-built, construction. Additionally, they are also focused on reducing the overall carbon footprints of our built environment by choosing to develop a wood-based system. And one more thing, they have open-sourced every aspect of their design from raw cutting files to design models for others to create and build their own structures.

A timelapse of the Skylark Wikihouse System

How it Works?

Over the past decade, they have built and deployed various prototypes of their modular system and given them different bird names. The most recent, and most promising system out now is called Skylark and it is in its 0.2 release. This system includes all the components modeled for multiple design software packages (rhino, SketchUp, blender, and ifc).

Why Does it Matter?

Housing affordability means different things around the world, whether you are in San Francisco, in London, Flint, like me, but the common denominator is that shelter is a basic human need. Over the past 100 years of industrialization our sense of shelter has drastically changed, needs have given way to wants, and has led to land grabs to create large oversized homes that are containers for stuff rather than housing for people. This space race has left us with a shortage of buildable lots near major utilities, jobs, and infrastructure. This topic is definitely something I will expand upon in the future.

I encourage you to check out Wikihouse and spread the word that housing can become affordable once again, while also being carbon neutral and sustainable.