The idea of Archiyou started while working as architects and builders and seeing that so many great designs and building insights disappear in a filing cabinet or folder on a hard drive somewhere.

This is related to the important optimization of a design for a given project (client, space, available materials and production partners), the CAD tools used and the business models of an expert-centered industry.

Recognizing design and building as being literally a niche art - but which hampers re-use and knowledge sharing - we set out to scale it out by codifying design and making it flexible to requirements of clients and production. This so-called parametric design is nothing new, but another thing is: Archiyou offers designs and production information - end to end - directly to people online. We call this Open Design.

We like to think Archiyou is a bit like the Wikipedia of design and making. The side that most people see is the content; Designs, information and plans. This is the Archiyou Library. But behind it is a way to create it: The Archiyou editor and the publication platform. By creating methods for both cost-efficient and scalable production and publication - just like Wikipedia - we like to achieve the democratization and revaluation of design knowledge.