You have probably all already heard about the Wikihouse project. How hard is it really to build an open source house? Is it as hard as getting something published on Wikipedia with no prior experience or can every one do it with just a little practice?
We are still talking about building a house, or at the very least a structure that one can live in, so it is not exactly for everyone. To really put its potential to the test, Eric Schimelpfenig, the SketchUp expert from SketchThis.net (a Sketchup design and training website) that first experimented with the WikiHouse at last year’s New York Maker Faire, used the experience acquired to build his own, smaller, WikiShed.
Unlike the 3D Print Canal House, built with a gigantic FFF 3D printer, and projects by D-Shape and WASP to 3D print in concrete, a Wikihouse is more of a SketchUp based CNC milling project. However it still is all about wasting as little material as possible by carefully plotting each piece of the house onto a 2D sheet through VCarve software. It is about making each structure unique, just like in 3D printing, and it is open-source, just like the RepRap printers.
“In my ongoing effort to build a Wikihouse to actually live in – says Schimelpfenig – I have decided to test the construction method – and my personal modifications to it – on a smaller, more manageable scale: a shed. This model is very nearly complete. I have reworked many of the joints, incorporating a lot of the ideas from what we learned putting together the Maker Faire pavilion, and Wikihouse 3.0.”
Schimelpfenig documented all his progress on the Sketchthis.net website and even shot a video to explain all the issues and challenges experienced during design and construction. His conclusion is that by using pre-engineered structures it is possible to lower the barrier of entry for people to actually build their own place to live in.
Some feel that this method of construction could truly change the way houses and living structures are built. It is not for everyone but to think that it is possible to actually build any habitable wooden structure just by downloading a model, modifying it and by using a program as accessible as SketchUp to draw up the architectural project seems quite revolutionary already.
