Consumer Archtiecture

Is Architecture a Good or a Service?

The answer that I have gotten mostly is that Architecture is a Service that provides a Good. It can be argued many ways, but I tend to lean towards Architecture being a Good more than a Service especially when it comes to designing homes.

Google defines Good and Service as follows:

Goods – Are the items that we buy, physical things we can touch.

Service – (verb) Perform Routine Maintenance or repair work on (a vehicle or machine) As a (noun) The Action of Helping or Doing work for someone.

Technically speaking Architecture is both. Correct? Lets find out!

I have recently been blessed with the ability to go to India to study and tour the entire country. Being a student of Architecture I am naturally more curious about meeting Architects, Engineer, Contractors, and of course see some of the British influenced design. I have been able to have many conversations with professionals from every corner of the world so far in my short stay and some of the same arguments keep coming up when discussing Residential Architecture.

The Architect wants:

• Cheaper Housing Construction
• Solar Responsive Structures
• Modular Designs
• Wants to know where the Future of Architecture is heading

The Clients want:

• Affordable Housing
• Fast Construction
• “Green” Products
• They want to control the project and make sure everything they want is included.

At a glance it seems like everyone actually wants the same things, so what’s the problem? The problem exists by each member wanting the same end results by pulling from different ends of the spectrum, like a giant game of Tug-o-War. It’s actually nearly impossible for the Architect to make more money while lowering cost and meeting the clients “green” needs. Thusly, how does the Architect provide all of the features they were thinking about while still allowing the client to be emotionally “in-control” of the project? The short answer is that they could be a part time Magician, which would solve a lot of issues. These arguments lead me to start thinking about Residential Architecture as a Consumer Good because to be a Magician and Architect seems a little crazy.

Lets focus on Residential Architecture only for now. Has anyone really figured out how to corner the market for Residential Design? In my humble opinion, not even close! Instead, Developers and Carpenters have taken this area away from Architects by building suburbs, droves of cookie cutter homes with the promise that by raising your family here you will be better for it. You could raise a nice cookie cutter family, and have a cookie cutter life. What joy! Wait, what? What happened to wanting to be unique? What happened to striving to be something grander than cookie cutter?

The question still remains. How can we provide Architecture to the consuming in public in the fast paced technological world that we live in? To begin to answer this question I find myself looking at Legos! The basic principal of Legos is that with just a handful of different pieces you can create millions of different things. Lego actually did something brilliant if you really think about it. Kids constantly change toys and want something new. Instead of fighting in a growing toy war for kids attention Lego instead provided a solution to a child’s short term satisfaction with a particular toy by basically given them the key to create anything they desired. Guess what, it worked! Kids and parents loved Legos and still do! Instead of buying a toy you were really buying the ability to make hundreds or thousands or toys. The attitude seems to be, here, make what you want. This was absolutely brilliant, right?

Translating Legos into Building Units

What can we learn from Lego in order to provide a solution to Residential Architecture that gives the control back to the Architect, instead of investors that do not have the clients best interests at steak? Today the idea of building with units or blocks is termed Modular Housing. That term leaves a very bad taste in my mouth as well as millions of people all over the world. Buying a home that is made in parts and seemingly not designed is not something people want to pay a premium for. At this point you are probably thinking that I am saying Consumer Architecture = Modular Housing, but I’m not. Rather, I am saying that Consumer Architecture = The aggregation of a home based on units controlled by the client. Modular housing is actually great! The only problem is that the Architect is still in complete control of the design and in the end the cost is higher than the cookie cutter home we mentioned earlier. What if we designed the units instead and allowed the client to “design” the home? Absurd, right? I believe that whoever can bring out the feelings a child has while playing with Legos within Residential design will ultimately start to shift the balance and trend of housing all together. If the client feels, and knows that they are in control of the units then they become emotionally invested in the home. That emotional investment is what the client needs, and wants. The design and solution to different problems is what we crave as Architects and Designers. This is a win-win, but its not going to be easy to provide a solution.

In the end it’s not the solution to the problem that will conquer all but rather how the idea is marketed and distributed.

I would like to here from you! Where do you think Architecture is headed in the future and do you agree or disagree with Architectures need to become more of a consumer good?

Follow me on Twitter @jadamthomas

Next up: How Virtual Aggregation of these Building Blocks will make or break a company pursuing this idea.