We've Renamed and Rebranded. What's Next?

There's a certain buzz in our office space. As we prepare for our rebranding, we can feel the air of excitement, anxiety-ridden nights, and brainstorming sessions culminating into an experience that we are ready to share with the world. As of 9am on 2 May, 2023, we stand ready to introduce Novatr to the world. Diversifying from Oneistox, here’s all you need to know about the growth and changes at our end. 

Necessity is the Mother of Innovation

Oneistox originated as an idea to do better in the architectural community. The struggles and pain points that we witnessed in the industry came from our own personal experiences. It heralded a juncture for us where we saw the steep gaps in the industry and found no resolution. We then resorted to creating our own bridges to bring harmony to some aspects of the system. We found many like ourselves - similar narratives, facing similar issues, but hopeful to do better. And just like that, Oneistox was formed. 

Asking Ourselves: Why Not Do Better? 

As our community grew, we realised we couldn’t contain our ambitions bundled together in the same room. This room was expanding at a rate unfathomable to us. At that instance, we knew that the goal had gotten much bigger than when we had started. We couldn’t restrain our community in small batches anymore; we had enrollments from across the world, with our mentors connecting from diverse backgrounds and global locations. By this point, not only did the voices from the community encourage us to build more, but the students and mentors also gave us enough confidence to take the next leap. Along with this, the huge bank of information and resources we had accumulated over time was something that we wanted to share with everyone and anyone who might need it.   

"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains" - Rosa Luxemburg

Leading with Example

As the clock ticks closer to 2050, the world is anticipating a population explosion of 11 billion people. It’s a figure that would have made our ancestors gasp in disbelief, but for architects, it presents an exciting opportunity to shape the future of our built environment. As cities become more crowded, architects must think outside the box to ensure that our urban spaces are both functional and beautiful. Despite such a tall order, it is alarming that only 1.5% of AEC revenue is invested in technology, making it one of the least digitised sectors globally. 

Also read: AEC is Broken. Novatr is Here to End Exploitation!

With these figures, one would expect the different stakeholders to recognise the urgency and make amends. Contrary to the expected outcome, there is a certain redundancy in project processes. Factors such as apprehension to adopt new methods, untrained labourers and professionals, inaccessibility to resources for upskilling, etc. only add to the delay in the overall growth. This presents an opportunity and a need to invest and ready all stakeholders in the AEC industry to generate the best possible results. Our present world is led by technology and defined by our ability to upskill and adapt. Novatr plans to be that bridge, weaving future expectations with the expertise that we require to make those dreams a reality.

Innovate and Regenerate 

Inspired by our community’s continued efforts to create better, we are commencing a new chapter with redefined goals and an expanded mission. The underlying values still remain intact. We propose an accelerated growth of technological adoption in the AEC industry and steer it towards a more innovation-led ecosystem.  

A new chapter with redefined goals and an expanded mission.

With Novatr, our mission is founded on collaboration, globalisation and innovation, with the latter serving as the basis for all our endeavours. 

The way in which mainstream education is designed focuses on methods that stand nowhere in competition with today’s technological advancements. Since the future of AEC can’t be built by relying on knowledge of the past, a key focus for us is to move the needle by designing tech-first curriculums. At the same time, there is also a need to democratise architecture education. So we’re utilising technology to remove the limitations of geography and high finances, enabling anyone and everyone in the world to access industry experts.

Powerful tools such as building information modelling (BIM), computational design (CD), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), information and communication technologies (ICT), etc., are bringing revolution to how humans perceive the built environment around them. Novatr as a platform will establish research labs across various global geographies. These labs will explore the cutting-edge domains of fabrication technology, materials of the future, and seamless collaboration across the project lifecycle. This is a small but significant step towards being the change we want to see in the world. 

Also read: From the SuperNovas’ Desk: What We're Excited To Do

Onwards and Upwards: Creating a Sustainable Future

We are excited to develop our brand from hereon and expand our family of innovators, explorers, and dreamers. From the beginning, we have thrived on doing better and constructing an inspiring space for future generations. In this exercise, we have evolved ourselves and hope to be one of the many changemakers who dare to disrupt.

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
- Steve Jobs

The next evolution is happening in real time - where do you stand?