(Advanced TED) Modular Housing

"It's easier to ship recipes than cakes and biscuits."

Discuss the quote above - what does it mean?

First watch the ad for Wikkel House

Wikkelhouse

Listen and fill the gaps:

groundbreaking d______
patented t______
wrapped around a m____
wikkelen is dutch for w________
glued t________
vacant p___ of l____
built to l___
anything g____
same g____ for the interior
whatever t_____ your f______
easily a______ to your n_____
d_____ and d______ by
figured that ___ we w_____
go a_____

Now watch this more challenging video on a different company:

Wiki House

Questions

Part 1. (0:00 - 1:28)

1. What are the two main drivers of the so-called 3rd Industrial Revolution?
2. What are blueprints?
3. What is the paradox of the new production model?
4. "To do for design what Wikipedia does for knowledge" (What does he mean?)

Part 2. (1:28 - 5:36)

1. At it's ___ WikiHouse is a community library of 3d models.
2. At the moment we use SketchUp because it's free and it's ____ easy to use.
3. You can ______ print out a kit of parts using a _________ sheet material like structural plywood.
4. Those parts are assembled not _____ a very large Ikea model.
5. ...using mallets which ______ are part of the printed kit.
6. Then the lightweight frames are ____ into ____
7. The finished house has _________ to make new parts for itself.


Part 3 (5:37 -

True of false?

1. WikiHouse is in an advanced stage of development.
2. The prototypes have only been built in Christchurch.
3. The different teams around the world are encouraged to be creative with the system.
4. WikiHouse is a complete solution to global problems.
5. The world's fastest growing cities are 'self-made'.
6. Institutions are not the answer to the world's biggest problems.
7. Housing solutions are only one way of developing the social economy.


Discuss:

What do you think of the Wiki House vision?
Is this a kind a project you'd like to get involved in?
What might it mean to "develop the social economy"?
Have you heard of similar projects which try to democratise the economy?


Further Listening:

If you're interested in this notion of a wiki-economy have a listen to this interview:

The Postcapitalist future