Creative commoning: design experiments exploring ways for platform technology to democratise architectural practice and production

Abstract

Digital platforms are rapidly and surreptitiously transforming the built environment. This paper begins by revealing the ways that platform capitalism is amplifying the financialisation of housing and economic asymmetries in global cities. However, it argues that with creativity, the same tools could be reformulated around the commons to develop an effective ‘counter-power' against these practices and to work towards a future city that is fairer and more sustainable. Through a series of creative works by contemporary architects including Dogma, Open Systems Lab, and Alexander & Sheridan Architecture, this paper seeks to demonstrate Vasilis Kostakis and Michel Bauwens' assertion that ‘the commons' is not an abstract concept, but a logical extension of practices and technologies that have become the everyday conditions of society from working to living. It exposes the potential for platform technologies to redistribute land and housing infrastructure, transform architectural, construction labour, and development practices, and redefine a role for the architect within the post-digital city. Ultimately, I argue that the politics of the platform is a matter of design. Through an expanded approach to architectural practice — which confronts the digital forces at play in the contemporary city — there is potential for architects to re-politicise the term ‘disruption’ towards housing equity and systemic change.