In my old architecture school, we had people locking up their models and drawings before they went home so that others will not freely copy their genius ideas. In the year 2004 i first heard about MIT’s open courrseware (http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm), where this prestigious school has opened up and made public all their classes and tests available online. Then as a student there, I thought to myself “what a waste of my tuition if everyone is getting what i am getting?” But deeper i get into the practice of architecture world, I began to believe in the true power of the open source.
We the designers think are producing something unique all the time, and we do get involved in the war of copyrights and copying. Look at Zaha’s entire CBD being built in China behind her back. But in this inevitable world of open information, and design being the most sensitive victim because we only communicate through visible images, is it practically possible to keep everything so strictly copyrighted? Why don’t we ask this question: what would be the world like if we share everything?
Imagine, you are already researching for a new idea for a magnificent structure on the internet. you find precedents. and you make sure your design is the state of the art. then you publish it again for free online so that someone else can build another idea on top of yours, or with you possibly. If we have the right culture to refer to the authors and communicate with them directly, we might be building a community of intellects that aid each other for building bigger ideas. Collaboration will be massively encouraged, if not required. and an engineer in India would be referring to an architect in Switzerland, who will end co-operating with the artist in China, then someday three of them all meet to make a great piece of architecture. Maybe i am just dreaming.
If we stop being so possessive and exclusive, I am sure there are many opportunities that will rise. Only if the right culture of sharing is firmly established….