• Maata pitkin -matkajuttuja
  • Project archive 2010-2015
  • Research Blog 2013-2015
Menu

INARI VIRKKALA PROJECT ARCHIVE

Architect focusing on the social impacts of the built environment
  • Maata pitkin -matkajuttuja
  • Project archive 2010-2015
  • Research Blog 2013-2015

2013 - 2015 Social Structure


During 2013-2015 I was working on the "Social Structure" research project. The aim was to define economic models for architects to work on social impact design. The research was conducted trough qualitative interviews with chosen professionals and combined with work periods of 3 months in 4 different practices focusing on social impact design. The blog Social Structure documents these interviews and the learning process throughout 2013-2015. The project is funded with Antti Nurmesniemi-grant from Asko foundation. Preliminary interviews were funded with a grant from the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) and Väinö Vähäkallio scholarship from Aalto University.

Tim Culvahouse.jpg

Tim Culvahouse: Catalytic consulting as a resource for design and architecture

January 9, 2014

Tim Culvahouse is an american architect who works as an independent consultant via his company Culvahouse Consulting. From 2000 to 2012, he edited arcCA (Architecture California), the journal of the American Institute of Architects California Council. arcCA is no longer published in print format, but Culvahouse continues to work with AIACC as Editor-in-Chief.

Culvahouse is a great resource for knowledge and his "connecting people" approach. It was also interesting to hear that this connecting forms part of his consulting work. And apparently very efficiently, as Garret Jacobs, the outreach coordinator of Architecture for Humanity told me, that the first thing he did when moving to San Francisco, was to connect with Culvahouse to hear what is going on in the social impact field in the Bay area.

I met with Culvahouse on Tuesday 7.1.2014 in a local cafe in Berkeley. It was a great discussion touching on on various issues as the development of social impact ideology with Team Ten in the 1950s and the impact of Samuel Mockabee in bringing together the "social architect" and the "design architect". 

We also discussed the change of ecological sustainability moving from the marginal to the fundamentals of architectural profession. According to Culvahouse, a real sign of social impact design turning into a mainstream issue is that the largest architecture practices like HOK and Perkins+Will have included it in their business models, Perkins+Will actually already in 2007.

www.culvahouse.net

← Architecture for Humanity Chapter Quarterly: Thoughts from a HQ VolunteerWhat Can Urban Planning Learn From Tech? →

Why is Social Impact Design important?


"Trough these small acupuncture acts we could transform the public space into the inclusive builder of community that it should be."
Katherine Darmstadt, Architecture for Humanity Chicago & Latent Design
www.chicagoideas.com

Because it can decrease the environmental impact of our cities:
"The growing emphasis on place making is linked to renewed interest in public transportation, and in walkable communities."
Light, Quick And Cheap: The Big Shift In Urban Planning, Micheline Maynard, Forbes.com 23.10.2013

Because by providing spaces for murals you can decrease maintenance costs of the public sphere:
"They have an active youth arts education program that give kids an alternative to graffiti."
Mural matriarch Susan Cervantes makes it big in art, San Francisco Chronicle 5.11.2014

"As more firms expand that access through pro bono design efforts, the public appreciation of the benefits and necessity of architectural services will also expand."
Architectural Record, October 2008.


Schedule of Social Structure research


Preliminary study period: August-October 2013
08/2013 HPAIR Asia in Dubai as part of European Delegation
08/2013 Tampere Architecture Week with Uusi Kaupunki-collective
09/2013 TAB 2013 Tallinn Architecture Biennale
09/2013 AES Think Big in San Francisco
09/2013 European delegation final seminar in Berlin
10/2013 South of North -seminar in MFA Helsinki

Actual research period: November 2013-November 2014

11/2013 Work in research part begins with Architecture for Humanity HQ in San Francisco

01-03/2014 2nd work in research part with Building Trust International in Cambodia

05-07/2014 3rd work in research part with raumlabor berlin in Germany

10-12/2014 4th work in research part with Architecture et Développement in Siliguri, India

01/2015 Publication of “Social Structure” web-publication

Inari Virkkala | inari.virkkala(a)gmail.com | +358 40 574 1926