Hiring a world-class architect is something not many people can afford. Like high fashion or expensive art, the closest most of us will get to experiencing a designer-drawn home is by looking through the picture book sitting on your coffee table.

 

Architecture has long had an accessibility problem: You want a bespoke house? You’re gonna have to pony up a lot of money. In the process, good design has become a luxury; a snooty, out-of-reach idea that only the rich have access to, which is actually the exact opposite of what good design should be. But what if architecture behaved more like technology? Can you expand the reach of quality design by applying the same principles behind open source code to architecture? Ask Joana Pacheco, and the answer will be a resounding yes.

 

Pacheco, who heads up architecture firm UMA, just launched the Paperhouses, a platform that’s looking to bring high-quality open source architecture to the masses. For its initial launch, Pacheco rounded up 12 well-known architects from around the world to contribute a house blueprint that the public can access for free.