On QUBE and new technologies that chart homebuilding’s future....

I’ve been asked several times already: Why did I name the token I created QUBE?

I named it after Homeqube, the homebuilding app startup I founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after the cube, the most basic geometric model. I’ve always been amazed by the sheer simplicity of the cube which has the most robust potential to adjust to its constrained environment within its parametric infinites.

As there are numerous ways to tell a story, there are also numerous ways to build something, say, a chair. I thought first to lay down my foundations of thought around certain subject matters below to be invariably synthesised by the reader rather than make my own solution constructs at the onset.

On Blockchain

I consider blockchain as an off-the-shelf strategic architecture of information transport that allows the least amount of records management and resources. Due to its deep architecture embedded strategy, its robust value is its low manageability; and if it’s manageable, it suggests it is scalable, efficient and, if done properly, actually is bulletproof.

The reason I got attracted to blockchain is that it is lean in concept but robust in its constituency. And that is a duality that is hard to come by.?As I reimagined homebuilding I think blockchain enables the type of a more democratic enterprise and information flow that makes for happier, more satisfied clients and professionals in this sector. At Homeqube, for example, by augmenting decentralised apps,, users can earn QUBEs every time they create home parts and designs recognized and accepted by the system. They also retain ownership of those parts via non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a way to create digital intellectual property for designers.?Smart contracts are also stored on the blockchain, automating the execution of often long, arduously created agreements. What you get out of it: accuracy, trust, transparency, and security. The list goes on, and blockchain never ceases to be a source of wonder and potential.?

On Artificial Intelligence

I consider AI to be about the “processing / sense making ability” on data, whatever kind of verb-superlative it is crafted for for its designed intelligence. The kind of data it processes, whether it be abstract data, or the most complex, it would always be about what could be accommodated as?inputs intended for computations. Therefore, the advancement of AI would depend on our personal achievements on respective computational thinking.

Conversely in other words, we can only appreciate up to what we can understand. That is why I am designing our AI to be in our midst in our creative building process rather than a catch-all source of intelligence or pill, for its utility on its artificial intelligence is limited to what we humans can appreciate thus understand. (E.g. What good is a new discovered color that nobody can perceive?)

AI could augment our creative intelligence on design, configuration, especially on arduous optimization problems on architecture and engineering problems. AI’s computation power is limitless but it just needs to be delivered in an infrastructure-framework effectively in a stream of ecosystem-consciousness with relevant case uses across members, and within.?

On Web3

Web3 is a description of what the internet is today in terms of what comes across all agents and users on its utility. It has been described as the semantic web since it’s about data that can be readily used for utility due to its semanticity.?

Personally, I believe web3 has become what it is today due to the genesis of blockchain which allows the infrastructure manageability of data records. And when you stretch this special prowess to industry specific semantics such as on asset ownerships, machine signals, financial functions, games, creative processes, societal experiences, and other information models, its case-uses becomes exponential. That is why content creation today will evolve into a more contributive internet that delivers more value than its predecessor. And due to its semanticity, it will be industry specific use cases.

On Top-down and bottom-up approaches

Build processes generally differ from country to country, depending on the advancement of the industrialization of its construction sectors. The general rule of thumb is that the more labor you utilise on site, the more top-down it is. And the less labor you use, the more bottom-up it is. Thus the amount of site labor is also directly related to the advancement of equipment or machinery utilized in the service delivery stream.?

Top-Down solutions are about the re-use of the same materials on specific applications, while Bottom-up solutions are about the re-use of the same components across applications. That??is why top-down approaches rely heavily on skills training transfers, while bottom-up allows more intuitive construction.

As of today, skills as we know it could not be passed on the internet to be absorbed by humans instantaneously. But what if the skills required are embedded on the components itself prior assembly? And since the components are logicalized by an information model, the result is an DIY home assembly.?

Further, the old premise is that top-down approaches is more customisable, but I would argue that it is possible to customize bottom-up approaches through mass-customization theories. And besides that our world is progressing towards a machine-oriented one, and with the genesis of web3 and advanced technologies, I think the main point is how to leverage it to further machine-oriented advancements.??Otherwise, what’s the point?

On the built environment

If web3 is about the content creation economy, how can it not be about design? And if web3 is about the semantic web as defined above, how can it not be about the machines around us? From 3D printers and manufacturing plants, which I believe must be included on the Internet of Things (IoT).

We have caught wind of newer buzzwords around, such as BIM, industrialized construction (IC), Industry 5.0, volumetric modular construction, and pre-fabrication, but the real relevance of such drifts can only be in the context of web3: the machine era in the context of the building agents involved.

What happens when the agents of the built environment are in web3??

They are able to leverage their own entrepreneurial value better through its network effects. To put it bluntly, here’s how it is in the old world: To be a legitimate design firm you would require an office, full software suite, staff and administration personnel, to say the least. With web3 you can deliver the services across members alone, with output work that is validated in the design ecosystem, with less overheads, more efficiency, and increased trust.

And that is just the start of it....What happens when our machines and equipment are connected in the ecosystem due to its specific semanticity? You can just imagine your printer turning on by itself upon token deposit confirmation and design integration!?

I will always look at the QUBE from an industrial-economic business model so that more robust products and services can spring from our ecosystem,?thus promoting grassroots knowledge creation and therefore a more flourishing industry. My app startup Homeqube might as well pave the path toward web3-enabling commerce in the home-building space.

Hi, I’m JP Calma, founder, CEO, director of business, and enterprise architect by profession. I am also the CEO of Multi-Development & Construction Corporation (MDCC), the pioneer and founder of interior construction in the Philippines since 1975. This family business was my first encounter with the built environment, and from my involvement there I went ahead and founded a number of startups in real estate, marine leisure architectural crafts. I’d love to connect with you further via?[email protected].?