[Foundation-l] New project proposal - Wikibuilder

[Christiaan Briggs]

Wikibuilder - a knowledge base covering the design and construction of 
the built environment

Project proposal page:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikibuilder

See also:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_new_projects

== Basic idea ==

To create a knowledge base covering the design and construction of the 
built environment.

== Scope ==

Much, if not most, of the information could be presented as text (and 
could start off as just that), but text presents profound and obvious 
limits for describing the built environment, so much of the information 
would be pictorial. With the drawing expertise of designers and 
draughtspeople around the world who are intimate with CAD (computer 
aided draughting) there should be no shortage of people to get the ball 
rolling.

There are currently efforts going on in the graphics and architecture 
industries to standardise pictorial file formats (see links below) and 
the main topic of initial discussion on Wikibuilder may well revolve 
around the kind of file formats to use for presenting and distributing 
sketch, 2D, 3D and other kinds of pictorial information. Carrying on 
from this might be discussion on graphical styles and style 
standardisation.

There are a few open-content repository-type websites around for 
sharing building details, et cetera, but most of them are woeful and 
narrowly focused on CAD technicians looking for details to use at work. 
There're a myriad of websites dotted around the internet offering 
information on design but this is extremely fragmented.
[edit]

== Why? ==

Ever since we as a species started manipulating our environment we have 
built a vast knowledge of designing and constructing the built 
environment. This knowledge belongs to everyone, but much of it is is 
locked away in people's heads with no easy way to share such 
information except for books (usually expensive ones) and 
apprenticeship. A wiki focused on the built environment could help 
unlock this knowledge and make it accessible to vast numbers of people 
(builders, designers, inventors, diy'ers, knowledge lovers) who could 
put it to use and continue to build on it in a open way. A wiki could 
also help the push for open standards in the presentation of pictorial 
information via the internet.

Kind regards,
Christiaan