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the architect
The Place of Architecture in a Crowdsourced World
Yochai Benkler, in his book The Wealth of Networks, puts forth a provocative argument: that we are in the midst of a radical transformation in how we create our information environment. This change is at the heart of the open-source software (OSS) movement but OSS is only one example of how society is restructuring around new models of production and consumption of services. The aspect that is most startling, Benkler writes, “is the rise of effective, large-scale cooperative efforts—peer production of information, knowledge, and culture ... . We are beginning to see the expansion of this model not only to our core software platforms, but beyond them into every domain of information and cultural production.” The networked information environment has dramatically transformed the marketplace, creating new modes and opportunities for how we make and exchange information. “Crowdsourcing” is now used for creation in the arts, in basic research, and in retail business. So what is the place of architecture in a crowdsourced world? There are a number of characteristics of crowdsourced systems that challenge existing models of system development.