COOPERMADE: Design with FRANK

Custom-made homes

Image by Yaoyi Fan and Gabriel Munnich

Gabriel Munnich AR’18 and Yaoyi Fan AR’18 recently founded Design with FRANK, a start-up based on the premise that good design doesn't need to be a luxury. Their company has developed a digital tool that embeds architectural intelligence into a user-friendly interface, allowing anyone to make well-designed homes that fit their exact needs.   

Recently featured in Designboom, Design with FRANK streamlines the traditional design process into an intuitive, game-like experience that allows users to manipulate and connect 3D blocks into their own custom architectural plan. Once satisfied with their design, users can interchange roof types and exterior materials to suit different climates. The software also provides a sophisticated map system via satellite imagery and vector world data that visualizes the user's dream house in their chosen physical site.   

Homes designed with FRANK are created with sustainability at their core, as the software factors in environmental variables to optimize temperature control and reduce the need for heating and air conditioning. The house blocks are compact to maximize their efficiency, and a built-in cost estimator allows users to see how their design and material choices impact their overall budget. The architects believe that “through Design with FRANK we think we can democratize design by providing access to better tools for both designers and aspiring homeowners.” 

 

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  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.