Open Studio is a team of building architects emphasizing an open mindset. Our belief is that collaborative design will outplay hierarchical decisions and that we will gain more from openness and sharing, rather than promoting secrecy and intellectual property.
Architects use a plethora of software for design, simulation and documentation. We don't mind working with proprietary apps to do specialized tasks. Interoperability with open file formats is non-negotiable though and we don't accept a licensing model if the terms, or cost involved will be a burden to our workflow.
A tradition to rely on proprietary software from a few dominating vendors have created a monopoly like situation in the construction industry. Lobbying has led land developers and contractors to believe that leaving this path will come at great risk. As a result the use of specific software is frequently a requirement during procurement.
In order for these vendors to motivate aggressive licensing models and maintain their market position it has become increasingly important that designers spend more time locked into their ecosystem: Many architects feel like focus is drifting away from the actual design work, with a more generated built environment as the result.
On the contrary, we are confident that channeling resources to work with physical models, to meet in person during workshops and making decisions from real materials is a successful focus for architectural design.
Turning to viable software alternatives has become a key to achieve this change in focus:
Open Studio Desktop is now more than 20 years in the making: We have collected, tested and fine tuned a palette of apps and scripts in order to create a workflow for architectural design and documentation. - It is a fully functional alternative allowing open minded architects to focus more on design.
Please consider the achievements of Open Studio as an architecture office to be our proof of concept.