From Massive to Mass Customization and Design Democratization

Various digital design and production technologies introduced in the late 1990s opened up unprecedented opportunities for architects to engage complexity and variability in formal articulation and the material realization of buildings. In the conceptual realm, digitally-driven, parametric design processes characterized by an inherent capacity for continuous transformation of three-dimensional forms gave rise to new architectonic possibilities. Mass customization, defined by Joseph Pine as the mass production of individually customized goods and services, offered the promise of a tremendous increase in variety and customization without a corresponding increase in costs. Mass customization is a particularly suitable production paradigm for the housing sector of the building industry, since houses (and buildings in general) are mostly one-off, highly customized products. It also offers a promise that a truly “customized” house – with a unique geometry, i.e. shape and form – could eventually become available to a broader segment of society.