Open Source Architecture is a visionary manifesto for the architecture
of tomorrow that argues for a paradigm shift from architecture as a
means of supporting the ego-fueled grand visions of "starchitects" to a
collaborative, inclusive, network-driven process inspired by
twenty-first-century trends such as crowd-sourcing, open access, and
mass customization. The question is how collaborative design can avoid
becoming design-by-committee. Authors Carlo Ratti and Matthew Claudel
navigate this topic nimbly in chapters such as "Why It Did Not Work" and
"Learning from the Network."
They also meet the essential requirement of any manifesto, considering
the applications of open-source architecture not only conceptually but
also in practice, in chapters such as "Open Source Gets Physical" and
"Building Harmonies." Open Source Architecture is an important new
work on the frontlines of architectural thought and practice.