AIA Latrobe Research: Wisdom from the Field

Thanks to an inspiring interview thin morning with Tim Culvahouse, I came across a great report published last July:

"The 2011 Latrobe Prize, awarded to a group of architectural researchers for their study titled, “Public Interest Practices in Architecture” has completed their research and published the findings.

...The study investigated the needs that can be addressed by public interest practices and the variety of ways that public interest practices are operating.

You can access the comprehensive report on this research here: www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/document/aiab099531.pdf

...Among the findings of the report is that public interest design is transforming architectural practices. This transformation to a more public interest model can be seen as a wide-spread response to the concern that the conventional model of practice responds solely to the paying client, limiting the profession’s capacity to address the problems of our time.

The report concludes with five recommendations:

1. Embrace and support a transformed profession

2. Communicate the profession’s public service values

3. Facilitate best public interest practices and strategies

4. Expand existing and attract new funding sources

5. Educate students and professionals about public interest design."

The Guild gives good in order to provide it's employees with meaningful challenges

"The Good Sabbatical is an employee volunteer program available to everyone at  Guild who have been with the company for two years or more. They can choose to work with any non-profit or NGO operating anywhere in the world, and can decide to employ the talents they exhibit here on a daily basis or explore others they may be curious to learn.

Our only requirement is that they partner with an established and effective organization. Meanwhile, Guild covers airfare to wherever their service may take them and continues their full salary compensation during their four-week Good Sabbatical. They still have full access to their benefits during this time, and, yes, this includes their two-week paid vacation.

Our goal with this program is to provide our people with a more rewarding work experience by creating positive, unique, hands-on opportunities for improving the world."

Alex Kieve and Hunter Bowen were interviewed in the DLYGAD conference on 8.11.2013.

www.guildgivesgood.org

Hunnarshala operating as an open collective in India

"Hunnarshala, founded in the wake of the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India, facilitates artisan-led reconstruction in post-disaster areas, as well as long-term redevelopment of cities and informal settlements. Hunnarshala taps the skills of local artisans and builders who have deep knowledge of resilient building systems and delivers high-quality, sustainable, and disaster-safe housing. These collaborations lead to new hybrid solutions that elevate vernacular architecture to innovation. The group’s experiments also spark the reuse of formerly unusable industrial waste, such as waste wood from shipwrecks (now joined into thin strips for flooring, doors, and window frames).

Hunnarshala has worked on disaster rehabilitation in India (Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kashmir and Bihar), Iran, Indonesia and Afghanistan. It has helped build more than 30,000 interim shelters and almost 12,000 permanent reconstructions."

See a video on Hunnarshala's work on the Curry Stone Prize's site.

Kiran Vaghela from Hunnarshala was interviewed in the Architecture for Humanity Design Like You Give a Damn conference on 8.11.2013.

www.hunnar.org

Raumlabor: an organic collective of individual designers enables the office to work flexibly

Here's a description of raumlabor on Tallinn Architecture Biennale's webpage, where I first got to meet Olga Maria Hungar from the office.

"The Berlin-based raumlaborberlin is a collective of eight architects who, instead of seeing their venture as an ordinary architecture office, consider themselves a horizontal network. They work at the intersection of architecture, city planning, art and urban intervention. raumlabor defines the city and urban renewal as a process, the success of which lies upon the substantial inclusion of diverse interested parties. raumlabor has achieved world renown for their smart and approachable works that draw critical attention to the problems of cities and urban life while retaining a positive attitude, constructive approach and that welcome participation in the search for solutions.

For each project raumlaborberlin designs and puts into action a selected team of experts, linking members with external specialists as needed. Their work is based on the belief that artistic and architectural interventions serve as tools of communication and processual design at the intersection of culture and planning." 

Olga Maria Hungar from raumlabor was interviewed in Berlin on 27.9.2013.

(I unfortunately forgot to take a picture, so here is Jan Liesegang presenting raumlabor for Low2No campers in June 2011. Photo by Tommi Laitio.)

www.raumlabor.net

Stiftung FREIZEIT: Creating an exhibition to make "Afritecture" tangible

How to present architecture in a tangible and a participatory way? This was one of the questions thought by Stiftung Freizeit in the design of the Afritecture-exhibition. 

"We want to question statements, rethink meanings, generate debate.
We’re looking for public sense in common space.
Seeing the street as a communication platform, we open spaces for action, participation and exchange.
The city is yours, share it!"

Rubén Jódar from Stiftung FREIZEIT was interviewed in Berlin on 26.9.2013.

www.stiftungfreizeit.com

Project for Public Spaces: achieving sustainability trough placemaking

"Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. Our pioneering Placemaking approach helps citizens transform their public spaces into vital places that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs.

PPS was founded in 1975 to apply and expand on the work of William (Holly) Whyte, the author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Since then, we have completed projects in over 3000 communities in 43 countries and all 50 US states. Partnering with public and private organizations, federal, state and municipal agencies, business improvement districts, neighborhood associations and other civic groups, we improve communities by fostering successful public spaces."

Ethan Kent was interviewed in New York on 19.9.2013

Project for Public Spaces
www.pps.org
 

Emily Pilloton presenting "If You Build It" as part of the AIA Architecture and the City Festival

Emily Pilloton was presenting the work of Project H at the AIA Architecture and the City Festival before showing the If You Build It -documentary on 18.9.2013.

http://www.projecthdesign.org/

Quick visit to Architecture for Humanity headquarters

"Architecture for Humanity is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 1999. We are building a more sustainable future through the power of professional design. 

By tapping a network of more than 50,000 professionals willing to give their time and expertise to help those who would not otherwise be able to afford their services, we bring design, construction and development services where they are most critically needed. 

Each year 100,000 people directly benefit from structures designed by Architecture for Humanity. Our advocacy, training and outreach programs impact an additional 50,000 people annually. We channel the resources of the global funding community to meaningful projects that make a difference locally. From conception to completion, we manage all aspects of the design and construction process.

Our clients include community groups, aid organizations, housing developers, government agencies, corporate divisions, and foundations.  Design is important to every aspect of our lives. It informs the places in which we live, work, learn, heal and gather. We engage all stakeholders in the design process. We believe our clients are designers in their own right."

The co-founders Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr stepped down from the lead of the organisation in the fall 2013.

Cameron Sinclair was interviewed in Siem Reap, in Cambodia in June 2013.

www.architectureforhumanity.org

Public Architecture and the power of pro bono

"Public Architecture puts the resources of architecture in the service of the public interest. We identify and solve practical problems of human interaction in the built environment and act as a catalyst for public discourse trough education, advocacy and the design of public spaces and amenities."

Public Architecture encourages designers to spend 1% of their annual work hours on pro bono projects and matches then companies with non+profits and social enterprises trough their succesful 1% program.

Jennifer Lau and Neha Bhargava were interviewed on 18.9.2013 at the Public Architecture headquarters in San Francisco.

www.publicarchitecture.org

SOM and the challenge of creating day-care spaces in downtown San Francisco

A design team at SOM mapped possible spaces in downtown San Francisco for day care centres. They also developed economic models for running these facilities.

Carrie Byles from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was interviewed on 17.9.2013

www.som.com

Kiva.org – coping with global problems

"Kiva Microfunds (“Kiva”) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization founded in 2005 with a mission of connecting people through lending to help alleviate global poverty. Kiva empowers individuals (“Lenders”) to lend to low-income borrowers around the world. Kiva partners with a global network of Microfinance and other institutions (“Field Partners) to help identify, select and support borrowers across the 65+ countries where Kiva works."

I visited Kiva's offices in September 2013 together with the Think Big-group. A story of the visit was published in the Think Big blog in October.

www.kiva.org

IDEO aims to hire T-shaped individuals

"IDEO is an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow.

We identify new ways to serve and support people by uncovering latent needs, behaviors, and desires. 

We envision new companies and brands, and we design the products, services, spaces, and interactive experiences that bring them to life. 

We help organizations build creative culture and the internal systems required to sustain innovation and launch new ventures."

One of the interesting takeaways of the visit was that IDEO's team is extremely multidisciplinary. The company aims to hire especially so called T-shaped individuals who have a strong knowledge in the own focus area but are curious, emphatetic and excellent team workers.

Pontus Wahlgren presented the work of IDEO for our Think Big group on 11.9.2013

www.ideo.com