for our Mainnet launch and to receive invitations for future product releases.
Archisinal is building to become the Opensea for professionals in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). By utilising the transparent and immutable nature of blockchain technology, the Archisinal platform aims to become the go-to solution for data management and dispute resolution.
Through on-chain tokenization of designs, professionals in the AEC industry can reduce the quantity and length of arbitration disputes and gain exposure to the creator economy through royalties from secondary sales.
The purpose of this document is to provide an executive summary for a template aimed at building an innovative NFT (Non-Fungible Token) marketplace for architects and engineers. This platform will revolutionize the way professionals in the architectural and engineering sectors trade, showcase, and monetize their digital assets, whilst enabling a global audience to access and acquire unique pieces of digital art and design.
The objective of the Archisinal project is to build a NFT marketplace that is similar to Opensea, but tailored to the specific needs of architects, and engineers by providing them a wider audience to connect with for on- and off-chain work engagements. Archisinal wants to become the ‘go-to platform’ for architects and designers to generate more revenue by easily creating and selling unique, one-of-a-kind digital assets as NFTs on the Astar blockchain. By leveraging smart contract functionality, architects will be provided with a platform for architects to showcase and sell their designs as unique digital assets, and earn royalties from secondary sales. With its search functionality and easy buying and selling capabilities, it will also make it easy for architecture enthusiasts to discover and purchase designs that interest them.
Ownership and provenance: NFTs use blockchain technology to create a decentralized digital ledger that securely records the ownership and provenance of digital assets. By minting their designs as NFTs, architects can establish a clear and indisputable record of their authorship, ensuring that their work is correctly attributed and valued.
Scarcity and uniqueness: NFTs are unique digital tokens that cannot be replicated or replaced, which gives them inherent value due to their scarcity. By minting a limited number of NFTs for each design, architects can create a sense of exclusivity and increase the value of their work, just as limited edition prints or numbered artworks do in traditional art markets.
Intellectual property protection: NFTs can help architects protect their intellectual property by ensuring that any digital reproductions of their designs are traced back to the original creator. With the rise of digital design tools and online platforms, it has become increasingly easy for designs to be copied or plagiarized. NFTs can serve as a deterrent to unauthorized use and provide a clear legal framework for the enforcement of copyright claims.
Royalties and secondary market sales: One of the most significant benefits of NFTs for architects is the ability to earn royalties from secondary market sales. When an NFT changes hands, a smart contract can be programmed to automatically pay a percentage of the sale price back to the original creator. This provides architects with a passive income stream and ensures they continue to benefit from the success of their work.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation: The NFT space is characterized by a vibrant and experimental community of creators working across various disciplines, including art, music, and design. By minting their designs as NFTs, architects can collaborate with other artists and explore new forms of expression and creativity, pushing the boundaries of their practice.
Holding the digital asset provides value in two main funnels:
To buy, hold and sell like typical NFT art
Utility token — holding the token for a particular designer gives the holder token-gated access to the original creator to develop the design into a physical product
Philosophical Questioning: ‘’In it’s simplest terms, let’s take the scenario of the architect responsible for delivering the design of the house that Michael Jackson lived in during his childhood. The fee for such work would have been in-line with that of a mid-60’s, Indiana based architect. If this design work was available as an immutable token of authenticity today, it would have experienced an increase in value proportional to that of the singer’s profile.’’
It is difficult to provide exact figures* for how much famous architects were paid for designing famous structures, as the fees can vary widely depending on the scale and complexity of the project, the reputation of the architect, and the time period in which they were working. Additionally, many architects are paid a percentage of the total construction cost, which can be influenced by factors such as materials, labor, and economic conditions.
Here are a few examples of well-known architects and their famous structures, but keep in mind that these are approximate figures and may not account for inflation or other factors:
Frank Lloyd Wright: Wright designed many iconic buildings during his career, such as Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum. It is estimated that he may have earned between 5–15% of the construction cost for his projects, but exact amounts are not publicly available.
Le Corbusier: Known for designing Villa Savoye and the Unite d’Habitation, Le Corbusier’s fees would have varied based on the project. Again, exact amounts are not available, but he may have earned a similar percentage to other architects of his time.
Zaha Hadid: As a contemporary architect, Zaha Hadid’s fees were likely more transparent. Her firm designed the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics, which cost around £269 million. If her firm received a standard fee of around 5–15% of the construction cost, they could have earned £13.5-£40 million for the project.
Norman Foster: Foster’s firm designed the iconic Gherkin building in London, which cost an estimated £138 million to construct. If his firm received a standard fee of around 5–15% of the construction cost, they could have earned £7-£20.7 million for the project.
With the advent of new technologies, particularly blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), the landscape of the art and design world is undergoing significant changes. By minting their designs as NFTs, architects can take advantage of these changes to create new revenue streams, protect their intellectual property, and increase the value of their work.
Whilst both Ink! and Solidity are popular programming languages for building smart contracts and decentralized applications, there are some key reasons why Ink! may be better suited for building the Archisinal NFT marketplace:
Runtime efficiency: Ink! is built on the Substrate framework and optimized for the Polkadot ecosystem. Substrate uses the WebAssembly (Wasm) runtime, which offers better performance and is more resource-efficient than the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) used by Solidity. This can lead to faster transaction processing and lower fees for users on an NFT marketplace.
Interoperability: Polkadot, the ecosystem where Ink! is primarily used, is designed for cross-chain communication and interoperability. This means that an NFT marketplace built using Ink! can more easily interact with other blockchains and their assets. This can be a significant advantage for users looking to trade NFTs across different platforms.
Scalability: The Polkadot ecosystem has a more scalable architecture compared to Ethereum, which is a key concern for NFT marketplaces that may experience high volumes of transactions. Polkadot uses parachains and a relay chain to process transactions in parallel, while Ethereum currently relies on a single chain that can become congested during peak periods.
Upgradability: ink! contracts can be easily upgraded, allowing developers to implement new features and improvements without disrupting the user experience. This is particularly important for an NFT marketplace, as new features and standards may emerge over time. In contrast, upgrading Solidity contracts can be more complex and sometimes require creating entirely new contracts.
Lower fees: As Polkadot has a more efficient consensus mechanism and resource usage, transaction fees are generally lower compared to Ethereum. Lower fees can attract more users to an NFT marketplace and facilitate more transactions, making the platform more accessible and user-friendly.
User Experience: The user experience should be simple and intuitive, with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for architects to mint, buy, sell, and manage their NFTs.
Smart Contracts: The marketplace should be built on blockchain technology, with smart contracts that handle the minting, buying, selling, and royalty distribution of NFTs.
Royalty Distribution: The marketplace should have a built-in mechanism for distributing royalties to architects for secondary sales of their NFTs. This will help to incentivize architects to create and sell their designs on the marketplace.
Search and Discovery: The marketplace should have a robust search and discovery feature, allowing users to easily find the designs they are looking for.
3D integration: The marketplace should have the ability to integrate with 3D modeling software and easily import designs. (Post-MVP)
Security: The marketplace should have robust security measures in place to protect against fraud and hacking, including two-factor authentication and encryption of user data.
Community: The marketplace should have a built-in community feature, where architects can connect and collaborate with other architects, share their designs, and get feedback.
Scalability: The marketplace should be designed to handle a high volume of transactions and users, with the ability to scale up as needed.
Revenue Streams: The marketplace should have multiple revenue streams, such as transaction fees, advertising, and other services, to ensure long-term sustainability.
Legal Compliance: The marketplace should be compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, including those related to NFTs and blockchain technology. (not included in MVP)
Ownership of Creations: Creators have full ownership of their designs, allowing them to benefit from the creator economy and have control over how their work is used and distributed.
Access to Creators: Purchasers of NFTs have access to the original creators through the metadata of the file, allowing them to engage with them for work.
Document Control: Archisinal aims to become the ‘go-to’ hub for document control, allowing creators to track and manage their designs, ensuring they are always in control, allowing creators to track and manage their designs, ensuring they are always in control of their IP.
IP Transfer and Dispute Resolution: Archisinal provides a safe and secure platform for the transfer of IP, and dispute resolution if necessary.
Monetization and Royalties: Archisinal enables creators to monetize their designs by selling them as NFTs on the marketplace, with the ability to set royalties on secondary sales.
The marketplace will have the following functionalities:
Wallet Connectivity: Users will be able to connect their wallets to the marketplace via Metamask, Polkadot.js and Talisman.
Auction through Smart Functionality: Users will be able to auction their NFTs by minting, listing, buying it now, and transferring between accounts.
Display Lister’s Credentials: The marketplace will display their lister’s credentials, such as previous volume, rating etc.
Master Access to Delist Items: The marketplace will have a master access feature that will allow administrators to delist items that are not appropriate for the site.
Royalties from Secondary Sales: The marketplace will have a smooth user interface and fast transaction time to ensure seamless transactions and user experience.
Chat Feature: As a nice-to-have feature, the marketplace may have a chat feature that will allow users to communicate with each other
User Interface/Design Spec: The UI design for the marketplace should include the following elements:
Homepage: The homepage should display the featured NFTs, popular NFTs and latest NFTs available for sale
Search: The search functionality should allow users to search for NFTs based on different parameters such as creator, title and tags.
Categories: The categories should allow users to browse NFTs based on different categories such as art, architecture and engineering.
NFT Details: The NFT details page should display information about the NFT, including the creator, title, description, image and price.
Tom Humber — Founder, Archisinal Technologies
Danylo Semirazov — CTO, Blockchain developer
Oleh KulyKovskyi — Front-end developer
Artem Smolyarenko — UI/UX designer
Tom Humber —Tom holds a BSc in Mathematics from Loughborough University and an MSc in Quantity Surveying from the University College of Estate Management. Following post-graduate studies, Tom completed a course in Blockchain Strategy and Management from the prestigious University of Oxford, followed by an EE couse in Mergers & Acquisitions from Imperial College London.
During his tenure in the construction industry, Tom gained extensive experience working closely with architects, engineers, and other professionals in the field. As a Quantity Surveyor and Cost Consultant, he collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to deliver successful projects for contractors, developers, and boutique consultancies. This hands-on experience allowed him to develop a deep understanding of the intricacies and challenges faced by the industry. Through these collaborations, Tom also built an extensive network of industry professionals, further demonstrating his ability to forge strong working relationships and contribute to team success.
Danylo Semirazov — blockchain developer. 9+ years in IT, worked in financial, networking and security domains. 3+ yeas in web3. Master degree in Information Security. Contributions to Polkadot ecosystem: core developer of OpenBrush contracts — ink! smart contracts library, CTO at Asylum space — metaverse NFT standards (supported by W3F Grants Program), participated in developing DEX and lending platform in ink! from scratch, contributed to substrate and ink! repositories (upgradable contracts), speaker at Polkadot Decoded and WASM conference. Co-founder of Evolute — web3 game studio. Tech stack: Rust, Substrate, Solidity, C#, Java, JS, web3.js, polkadot.js, Typescript, React.js, Node.js
Oleh Kulykovskyi — front-end developer with 4.5 years of work experience including 3.5 years working with React & Next.JS, mostly in TypeScript language. Proficient with numerous business-grade tools like Redux, GraphQL, Git, Github, animation libraries (GSAP, Framer), MUI, Jest etc. Implemented a broad range of web solutions from landing pages focused on visuals to complex system of business-grade interconnected apps. Created and implemented a web3 platform for a project in Polkadot ecosystem — Asylum space. Developed an npm package as a solution for integrating blockchain into React. Tech stack: JS, React.js, Next.js, web3.js, polkadot.js, Typescript.
Artem Smolyarenko — UI/UX designer with over 3 years experience. He specializes in brand development in all aspects and have an excellent understanding of typography, color psychology, as well as grid, web and mobile principles. Artem worked on different types of products with startups and corporate teams from around the world. Skills: UI/UX design, product design, web and mobile app design. Tech stack & tools: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD.
The MVP Technical Development Roadmap for Archisinal includes multiple milestones to ensure the successful launch and operation of the platform. Full technical roadmap can be found here.
The Archisinal Creative MVP is a fully functioning NFT marketplace that enables architects and designers to mint and trade their designs. The product is funded by the ink!ubator Program, and it aims to solve the problem of limited exposure and revenue for architects and designers. However, we have a post-MVP development plan that pivots the product to a B2B solution with a focus on providing document control and timestamping services for architecture and engineering practices in commercial and residential construction projects. In this post-MVP roadmap, we will discuss the key areas and steps involved in the development of Archisinal Commercial, DeCon v1, DeCon v2, and DeCon v3.
Archisinal Commercial
Archisinal Commercial is a B2B solution that provides document control and timestamping services for architecture and engineering practices in commercial and residential construction projects. The key areas involved in this stage of the product development include technical development, business strategy, and marketing.
Technical Development: We plan to develop the platform using Substrate, which is a blockchain framework that enables the creation of scalable, interoperable, and modular blockchain applications. Substrate will enable us to develop a platform that is secure, efficient, and scalable. Additionally, we plan to integrate smart contracts into the platform to automate the execution of contracts, payments, and other transactions.
Business Strategy: Our business strategy for Archisinal Commercial is to target architecture and engineering practices in commercial and residential construction projects. We plan to offer the platform as a subscription-based service, which will generate recurring revenue for the company. We will also explore partnerships with construction companies, architects, and engineering firms to provide them with access to our platform.
DeCon v1
DeCon v1 is the introduction of ArchisinalDAO and the dispute resolution feature. This stage of the product development involves the following key areas: technical development, business strategy, and fundraising.
Technical Development: We plan to develop the ArchisinalDAO platform using substrate. ArchisinalDAO will be a decentralized autonomous organization that enables community members to vote on proposals and participate in decision-making. Additionally, we plan to integrate a dispute resolution feature into the platform, which will enable users to resolve disputes through a transparent and fair process.
Business Strategy: Our business strategy for DeCon v1 is to introduce the ArchisinalDAO platform and the dispute resolution feature as a value-added service for architecture and engineering practices. We plan to offer the platform as a subscription-based service, which will generate recurring revenue for the company.
DeCon v2
DeCon v2 involves the development of a payment platform and a whole project management system. This stage of the product development involves the following key areas: technical development, business strategy, and fundraising.
Technical Development: We plan to develop the payment platform and whole project management system using substrate. The payment platform will enable users to pay for services using cryptocurrency, and the whole project management system will enable users to manage all documentation relating to a construction project, including design, procurement, and legals. Additionally, we plan to integrate smart contracts into the platform to automate the execution of contracts, payments, and other transactions.
Business Strategy: Our business strategy for DeCon v2 is to offer the payment platform and whole project management system as a value-added service for architecture and engineering practices. We plan to offer the platform as a subscription-based service, which will generate recurring revenue for the company. We will also explore partnerships with construction companies, architects, and engineering firms to provide them with access to our platform.
DeCon v3
DeCon v3 involves construction yield farming and covers project overspend through yield farming and liquid staking of escrowed project funds. This stage of the product development involves the following key areas: technical development, business strategy, and fundraising.
Technical Development: We plan to develop the construction yield farming platform using substrate. The platform will enable users to stake cryptocurrency and earn rewards in exchange for supporting construction projects. Additionally, we plan to integrate a liquid staking feature into the platform, which will enable users to access their staked funds quickly and easily.
Business Strategy: Our business strategy for DeCon v3 is to offer the construction yield farming platform as a value-added service for architecture and engineering practices. We plan to generate revenue by charging a small percentage of the rewards earned by users on the platform.
In conclusion, the Archisinal roadmap outlines the development of a fully functioning NFT marketplace for architects and designers to mint and trade their designs, and the pivot to a B2B solution that provides document control and timestamping services for architecture and engineering practices in commercial and residential construction projects. We will introduce the ArchisinalDAO platform and the dispute resolution feature, develop a payment platform and a whole project management system, and create a construction yield farming platform. Our business strategy involves generating revenue through subscription-based services and partnerships with construction companies, architects, and engineering firms. We will also raise funds through seed, series A, and series B rounds of funding, and market our product through targeted advertising, content marketing, and direct outreach.
Deconstructing Design to Build a Better Future.
Archisinal leverages the advantages of Distributed Ledger Technology to reimagine the creator economy, and funnel the next generation of leaders into a fair and democratised toolkit, to manage large scale commercial builds across every design discipline.
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