This paper discusses the assembly and evaluation of a bamboo prototype installation aided by holographic instructions. The case study is situated within the framework of AR-driven computational design implementation methods that incorporate feedback loops between the as-built and the digital model.

The prototype construction aims to contribute to the ongoing international debate on architectural applications of digital technology and computational design tools and on the impact these have on craftsmanship and architecture fabrication. The case study uses AR-aided construction techniques to augment existing bamboo craftsmanship in order to expand its practically feasible design solution space. Participating laypersons were challenged to work at the interface of technology and material culture and engage with both latest AR systems and century-old bamboo craft.

This paper reflects on how AR tracking can be used to create a constant feedback loop between as-built installations and digitally designed source models and how this allows for the real-time assessment of design fidelity and deviations. The case study illustrates that this is especially advantageous when working with naturally varying materials, like bamboo, whose properties and behaviour cannot straightforwardly be accurately simulated digitally.

The paper concludes by discussing how augmented feedback loops within the fabrication cycle can facilitate real-time refinement of digital simulation tools with the potential to save time, cost, and material. The augmentation of onsite available skills facilitates the democratisation of non-standard architecture design production.

The paper next reveals ways in which IoT can transform the field of interactive architecture through the documentation and analysis of a project that stages an encounter between local and remote Wikipedia contributors. The installation creates a feedback loop for engaging Wikipedia in real-time, allowing visitors to follow and produce content from their interactions with the gallery’s physical environment. Light, sound, and fabric contextualize the direction and volume of real-time user-generated event data in relation to the gallery’s location, creating an interface that allows participants to dance with dynamic bodies of knowledge.

By incorporating IoT with the field of interactive architecture, this project creates a framework for designing computational systems responsive to multiple scales and expanding our understanding of computational publics.

By allowing for learning through playing, ARchitect provides alternative ways of gaining knowledge about design and architecture and empowers non-experts to take active and informed positions in shaping their future urban environments on a micro-scale, rethinking conventional market relations and exploring emerging personal and public values. The ARchitect game challenges conventional participatory design where an architect plays an essential role in facilitation of the design process and translation of end users’ design proposals. In contrast, the proposed game system allows non-architect players to autonomously produce and access design solutions through embedded computational simulation by an AR application, thus giving an equal chance to non-professionals to express their design visions and become aware of potential implications of their ideas. By providing free access to the game contents through the ARchitect platform and a playful user experience by which design principles can be learned, this game will inspire the general public to engage in conversation about home design, eventually spreading architectural literacy to less-privileged communities.