Archinect - Features

How Will Architecture be Affected by the Rise of Blockchain Technologies like NFTs?

2021-03-24T08:53:00-04:00

In the midst of a media cycle dominated by the ongoing pandemic, last week’s news that Christie’s sale of artist Beeple’s Everdays for a staggering $69 million made its way into national headlines. A rarity for any art event even in normal times. This served as a watershed moment for the growing online community of crypto collectors, whose use of blockchain technology and platforms like SuperRare to acquire digital art sold as Non-Fungible Tokens (or NFTs for short) has shaken up art sales in ways that are only now starting to become clear.

Working out of the Box: Matt Storus, Architectural Designer Turned Digital Designer

2017-10-06T11:48:00-04:00

Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.

In this installment, we're talking with Matt Storus, who is Head of Design for 21.co, a leading Bitcoin startup. Simply put, 21.co is a token-based social network, where one earns digital currency by replying to e-mails and completing tasks like surveys. There, Storus guides the design process from the conceptualization of new features to the final product. We spoke with the designer and former architect about leaving the profession. Our conversation also dives into blockchain—what is it and how could it be used in the field of architecture.

Towards a decentralized architecture with FOAM + the Blockchain

2015-12-09T20:26:00-05:00

Decentralized computation, virtual machines, cryptocurrencies: these terms seem to linger in shadows, conjuring abstract images of the “dark” web that lurks beneath the glossy surface of the screen. Architecture may be becoming “smart,” but we still perceive its domain to be brickwork instead of the tangled fiber optic cables it obscures – the walls that physically enclose rather than the signals that pierce.