Getting Real
From Web Apps Development
to Architecture
pyc - Design numérique AI5 - Oct. 2010
Use right and left arrows to navigate through the presentation.Getting Real is the business, design, programming, and marketing philosophies of 37signals — a developer of web-based software used by over 1 million people and businesses in 70 countries.
1 - It Shouldn't be a Chore
Your passion — or lack of — will shine through
The less your app is a chore to build, the better it will be. Keep it small and managable so you can actually enjoy the process.
If your app doesn't excite you, something's wrong. If you're only working on it in order to cash out, it will show. Likewise, if you feel passionately about your app, it will come through in the final product. People can read between the lines.
2 - Embrace Constraints
Let limitations guide you to creative solutions
There's never enough to go around. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough people.
That's a good thing.3 - Half, Not Half-Assed
Build half a product, not a half-ass product
Beware of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to web app development. Throw in every decent idea that comes along and you'll just wind up with a half-assed version of your product. What you really want to do is build half a product that kicks ass.
4 - Human Solutions
Build software for general concepts and encourage people to create their own solutions Don't force conventions on people. Instead make your software general so everyone can find their own solution. Give people just enough to solve their own problems their own way. And then get out of the way.
Elemental S.A. strength is the innovation and quality of design of projects of public interest and social impact, for which they count on a team highly enabled in the development of complex initiatives, that require coordination of actors public and private and participating processes of decision.
Elemental operate within the city and its capacity to generate wealth and quality of life. Elemental view their housing, infrastructure, and public projects as an opportunity to extend the benefits of the city to all.
Quinta Monroy - Iquique (Chile)
The Chilean Government asked us to resolve the following equation: To settle the 100 families of the Quinta Monroy in the same 5.000m2 site that they have illegally occupied for the last 30 years. We had to work within the framework of the current Housing Policy, using a US$7,500 subsidy with which we had to pay for the land, the infrastructure and the architecture. Considering the current values in the Chilean building industry, US$7.500 allows for just around 30m2 of built space. And despite the site’s price (3 times more than what social housing can normally afford) the aim was to settle the families in the same site, instead of displacing them to the periphery.
1 - It Shouldn't be a Chore
We think that social housing should be seen as an investment and not as an expense. All of us, when buying a house expect it to increase its value. But social housing, in an unacceptable proportion, is more similar to buy a car than to buy a house; every day, its value decreases. It is very important to correct this, because Chile will spend 10 billion dollars in the next 20 years to overcome the housing deficit. But also at the small family scale, the housing subsidy received from the State will be, by far, the biggest aid ever. So, if that subsidy can add value over time, it could mean the key turning point to leave poverty.
2 - Embrace Constraints
If to answer the question, one starts assuming1 house = 1 family = 1 lot
we were able to host just 30 families in the site. The problem with isolated houses, is that they are very inefficient in terms of land use. Our first task was to find a new way of looking at the problem, shifting our mindset from the scale of the best possible US$ 7,500 object to be multiplied a 100 times, to the scale of the best possible US$ 750,000 building capable of accommodating 100 families and their expansions.
3 - Half, Not Half-Assed
In first place, we had to achieve enough density, (but without overcrowding), in order to be able to pay for the site, which because of its location was very expensive. To keep the site, meant to maintain the network of opportunities that the city offered and therefore to strengthen the family economy; on the other hand, good location is the key to increase a property value.
4 - Human Solutions
Due to the fact that 50% of each unit’s volume, will eventually be self-built, the building had to be porous enough to allow each unit to expand within its structure. The initial building must therefore provide a supporting, (rather than a constraining) framework in order to avoid any negative effects of self-construction on the urban environment over time, but also to facilitate the expansion process.
