WikiHouse is an open-source project for designing and building houses.^[1][2] It endeavours to democratise and simplify the construction of sustainable, resource-light dwellings.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The project was initiated in the summer of 2011 by Alastair Parvin and Nick Ierodiaconou of 00, a London-based strategy and design practice, in collaboration with Tav of Espians, James Arthur now with 00 and Steve Fisher of Momentum Engineering.^[6][7] It was launched at the Gwangju Design Biennale in Gwangju, South Korea.^[6][8][9] The project has since grown to become a worldwide community of contributors.^[10]

WikiHouse enables users to download Creative Commons-licensed files from its online library, customize them using SketchUp, and then use them to create jigsaw puzzle-like pieces out of plywood with a CNC router.^[1][7] Construction of WikiHouse structures requires no special parts because the cut pieces of wood snap together with wedge and peg connections inspired by classical Korean architecture.^[11][12] The frame of a WikiHouse can be assembled in less than a day by people with no formal training in construction.^[11] The frame must then be finished with cladding, insulation, wiring, and plumbing before it can be inhabited.^[2][12] The WikiHouse project is maintained by Open Systems Lab.^[13]

After winning a cash prize at TEDGlobal in June 2012, the project invested the prize money into a partnership with the Brazilian youth mobilization project Dharma and the analysis agency BrazilIntel to build WikiHouses in the poorest favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[4] The goal of the partnership, dubbed WikiHouseRio, is to provide a single "maker lab" where one CNC router can be shared by the community while also allowing and encouraging community members to develop their own designing and building skills.^[4][6] The WikiHouse team plans to eventually create similar maker labs in other underdeveloped communities around the world.^[4] There are also plans to use WikiHouses as disaster-relief housing in earthquake-prone countries such as Haiti, Japan, and New Zealand.^[3]

By December 2013, while there were no inhabited WikiHouses, there were a few completed prototypes in addition to a usable walkers' shelter in Fridaythorpe, England.^[12] These WikiHouses are single-story, square-shaped structures with sloped roofs and small foundations that measure about 175 square feet (16.3 m²).^[2] By 2015, several additional WikiHouses had been built, including the following buildings and at the following events:

• Maker Faire 2013 in Queens^[14]
• WikiHouse 4.0 at the London Design Festival^[15]
• 150-square-foot (14 m²) FOUNDhouse microhouse^[16][17]
• WikiHouse at MAKlab in Glasgow^[18]
• Chop Shop in western Scotland^[19]
• Space Craft Systems project in New Zealand^[20]
• WikiSHED fork^[21][22]
• WikiHouse at the 2015 Vienna Open^[23]

Media reaction to WikiHouse has focused largely on the experimental nature of the project,^[1][2] comparisons with IKEA furniture,^[2][12] and the potential difficulty in finding and costs of using CNC routers.^[1][4] American science fiction author Bruce Sterling also gave a review of the WikiHouse design, describing it favorably as a dwelling "I could quite likely build and inhabit, personally".^[24]

• Open-source architecture
• Open-source hardware
• List of open-source hardware projects
• OpenDesk