What lessons can architecture learn from software development, and more specifically, from the Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) movement?

Written in the form of a quasi-license, "Urban Versioning System 1.0" is a pamphlet by Matthew Fuller and Usman Haque, published by the Architectural League of New York as part of the Situated Technologies Pamphlet Series edited by Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz and Mark Shepard.

The document posits seven constraints that, if followed, will contribute to an open source urbanism that radically challenges the conventional ways in which cities are constructed.

There are currently two versions of the document:

1. Urban Versioning System 1.0 (approx. 10,000 words)

2. Urban Version System 1.0.1 (Super-mini-special) (approx. 3,000 words)

The pamphlet is available as a print-on-demand publication and free pdf download from http://www.lulu.com/content/2734646.

 

CONTENTS
Preamble
Seven Constraints
Discussion of the Seven Constraints
[1] Build rather than design
[2] Materials must come pre-broken
[3] Make joints
[4] Rubbish is the root of virtuosity
[5] Collaborate with collaborators
[6] Copying or not copying is irrelevant
[7] Property must be invented

Artwork by David Cuesta

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Legible Notice Requirement

In order to comply with this quasi-license, the following statement must be legible on the construction: "This build is licensed under the Urban Versioning System v.1.0"

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