The dissemination of computational tools in architectural research and practice has led several authors to propose the adoption of alternate modes of production or procurement, such as Mass Customization (MC) or Open Source Architecture (OSArc), as viable alternatives for the traditional procurement process in the AEC industry. Some of these proposals address the century old challenge of providing high quality, low cost customized solutions for generic clients, a renewed promise of democratization of architecture. They aim to challenge the traditional stakeholder roles in industry, yet it is not clear how do the AEC roles differ between both approaches. The present article is a comparative analysis of some of the major contributions, with the aim of clarifying whether there are significant differences in the roles of the AEC stakeholders between MC systems and OSArc systems.

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Mass Customization,Non-expert Users,Digital Fabrication,Parametric Design,Open-source Architecture

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