Deciphering CryptoArchitecture: The architectural design studio as a vehicle for exploring the integration between blockchain and architectural design

In this paper we are using the outputs of research led architectural design studios, originally articulated as pedagogical projects at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh and the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen to explore and evaluate the possible transformative effects of blockchain/Decentralised Ledger technologies and decentralisation in the architecture discipline. After describing the pedagogical studio experiments, we frame a classification of relevant thematic clusters, where distributed ledger technologies can be applied to architectural design and thinking. The design studio, is treated as a methodological research tool, appropriate for the identification of existing knowledge gaps around the topic. The emerging classifications in terms of blockchain and decentralisation implementation is used to synthesise a map of future pedagogical and research activity.