Arcbazar.com
Crowdsourcing Architectural Design
Principal Investigator: Imdat As
Project Duration: July 2011 - present
Funding: Angel and Institutional Investors
Team: 5-10
Status: Ongoing
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WEBSITE: www.arcbazar.com
DESCRIPTION:
Arcbazar.com is the first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing marketplace for architectural, interior and landscape design projects. At Arcbazar anyone can launch a design competition for any scale of project: an addition to a home, a remodeling job for retail space, a design of an entire family home, a landscape project, a mixed-use development, or any other architectural design project. The client describes the project, uploads images, and provides basic information that form the basis for designers to develop their architectural concepts. The client sets the award and timeline, and in the end picks the best design solution. The award is distributed among the first three ranking design schemes.
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PUBLICATIONS:
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“Competitions in a networked society: crowdsourcing collective design intelligence,” Competitions, 107th ACSA Conference, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, March 28-30, 2019.
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“Generating Designs: From Crowdsourcing to Deep Learning,” 12th Pattaya International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology, Thailand, May 31-June 2, 2018: 6-13.
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“Crowdsourcing the Obama Presidential Center: An Alternative Design Delivery Model – Democratizing Architectural Design,” (with Takehiko Nagakura) Disciplines & Disruption, ACADIA Conference Proceedings, Cambridge, 2017: 118-127.
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“Architecture for the crowd by the crowd: A New Model for Design Acquisition,” (with Takehiko Nagakura) International Journal of Architecture and Urban Studies, Vol.1, No.2, Istanbul, 2016: 68-76.
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“Crowdsourcing Architecture: A Disruptive Model in Architectural Practice,” (with Maria Angelico) Synthetic Digital Ecologies, ACADIA Proceedings, San Francisco, 2012: 439-443.
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INTERVIEWS GIVEN:
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Aykut Balci, “Mimarlar icin Pazar Yeri Girisimi, Arcbazar,” Dunya Trendleri, NRG Radio, Turkey, 2020.
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Özer, Derya Güleç, “Mimarlık Yarısmalarında Yeni Bir Dijital Ortam: Ä°mdat As ile Arcbazar.com Uzerine bir Söylesi,” Arkitera.com, Istanbul, Turkey, 2017.
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McManamy, Rob, “Arcbazar brings Architecture to the People,” BuiltWorlds.com, Chicago, IL, 2016.
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Crosbie, Michael, “Crowdsourcing Design: The End of Architecture, or a New Beginning?” ArchNewsNow.com, 2014.
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Ulrich, Karl, “LaunchPad,” 30-min radio interview with Wharton School Business Radio, Sirius XM 111, University of Philadelphia, 2014.
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Goldberg, David, “Crowd-Sourced Design,” National Association of Realtors. Chicago, 2013.
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Sudan, Randeep, “Collective Intelligence and Poverty,” Worldbank.org, 2012.
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Szaniszlo, Maria, “Designer, Clients Forge Ties on Web,” Boston Herald, 2012.
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Fulcher, Merlin, “Architecture Crowd-sourcing Website Criticized: Architects Have Slammed a Threatening New Crowd-sourcing Website in the US Which Promises to Reduce Clients’ Costs.” The Architects’ Journal, 9 (29): 10, 2011.
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Glidden, Matthew, “Arcbazar’s Founder Talks About Moving Architecture Online,” vencaf.org, 2011.
PUBLICATIONS ON ARCBAZAR BY OTHER AUTHORS:
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Keslacy, Elizabeth, “Arcbazar and the Ethics of Crowdsourcing Architecture,” in Thresholds 46: “Scatter!” MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2018: 300-317.
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Buyor, Adriana, and Silvia Avasilcai, “Innovative architectural design development: the Arcbazar creative crowdsourcing contests perspective,” MATEC Conference 184, 04002, 2018.
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Tedeschi, Arturo, “The Design Game,” Domus Magazine 1011, March 2017: 17.
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Brandt, Beverly K., “Crowdsourcing your Dream (Or your worst Nightmare),” ASID ICON Magazine. Fall 2015: 16-22.
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Steinfeld, Kyle, “The data made me do it, direct, deferred and dissolved authorship and the architecture of the crowd,” in Paradigms in Computing: Making, Machines, and Models for Design Agency in Architecture, Ed. D. Gerber and M. Ibanez, eVolo Press, Los Angeles, 2014: 74-76.
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Greenway Group, “AIA Foresight Report: The Changing Context, Business, and Practice of Architecture,” The American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC, 2014: 25-26.
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Staggs, Brooke Edwards, “Architects miffed at website that offers low-cost bids,” Orange County Register. Los Angeles, 2014.
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Gage, Mark Foster, “Rot Munching Architects,” in Perspecta 47: Money, The Yale Architectural Journal, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2014: 21-26.
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Heiskanen, Aarni, “The New World of Building Design,” AEC Business, 2013.
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PRESENTATIONS, PANELS AND LECTURES:
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107th ACSA Conference, “Competitions in a networked society: crowdsourcing collective design intelligence,” Competitions, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, March 28-30, 2019.
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Forum8 Asia Seminars in Three Cities, “Arcbazar: From Crowdsourcing to Artificial Intelligence in Design,” Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China, 2018.
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ACADIA 2017 Conference, “Crowdsourcing the Obama Presidential Center,” Disciplines and Disruption - 37th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, Cambridge, MA, 2017.
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Forum8 Design Conference on Real-time 3D VR Technologies, Autonomous driving, BIM/CIM and cloud computing, “Arcbazar x Project VR,” Shinagawa Intercity Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 2016.
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United Nations University Seminar, “Crowdsourcing Design and Sustainability for Urban Design Projects,” Tokyo, Japan, 2016.
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Harvard Real Estate Conference, “Leadership and Entrepreneurship: Transforming the Real Estate Realm,” Cambridge, MA, 2016. (Invited Presenter/Panelist)
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MIT Hacking Arts Conference, “Is Design Still a Differentiator?” MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, Fall 2014. (Invited Panelist)
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FutureM Conference, “Boston Shark Tank,” Microsoft NERD Center, Cambridge, MA, 2013.
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ACADIA 2012 Conference, “Crowdsourcing architecture: A disruptive model in architectural practice,” Synthetic Digital Ecologies - 32nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, San Francisco, CA, 2012.
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MIT VMS v2i, “Arcbazar Start-up Story,” MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, 2012.
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ABX 2012 – Architecture Boston Exposition, “Crowdsourcing architecture and the disruption of the traditional praxis,” Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA, 2012. (Panel Organizer)
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MIT Enterprise Forum, “Arcbazar Poster Presentation,” Microsoft NERD Center, Cambridge, MA, 2012.
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Harvard GSD course lecture, “The Future of Architectural Practice: Crowdsourcing Architecture,” Cambridge, MA, 2011.

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