Upcoming Events

Aug 15, 2008 to Jan 15, 2009
International Design Competition
Sep 15 to 17, 2008
Anchorage, Fairbanks & Juno, AK
Sep 22, 2008
Charleston, SC
6pm Oct 20 to 8pm 25, 2008
Columbia University, New York, NY
Open Architecture Challenge

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Design Like You Give a Damn offers a history of the movement toward socially conscious design and showcases more than 80 contemporary solutions to such urgent needs as basic shelter, health care, education, and access to clean water, energy, and sanitation. Proceeds of the book will go directly to supporting humanitarian projects around the world. Get inspired and order book today.

Building a more sustainable future using the power of design. Through a global network of building professionals, Architecture for Humanity brings design, construction and development services to communities in need.
Jul 29, 2008

Biloxi Model Home Celebration

After nearly two years, all seven biloxi model homes are complete or nearly constructed. It's been quite a journey. Last weekend we took some time out to celebrate this amazing accomplishment. It was great to see all the families and architects in one room. We haven't done that since the program began. Naturally, this being Biloxi, there was plenty of food and good humor on hand. Huge thanks to everyone for making this program possible and showing us all how to help families come home.

Jul 10, 2008

Sportables Challenge

Sportables challenged participants to design a highly demountable, portable sports product library, product development studio, and futsal (soccer) play area for the community of Capao Redondo, a dense, colorful, and energetic settlement near Sao Paolo, Brazil. The “pop-up” facility deploys to provide jerseys, shoes, and balls, using sports inspire change for youth of both genders, and provide income generation opportunities for others. All designs had to grapple with issues of space, accessibility, security, resource scarcity and community.

The winning design by Toby R. Keeton is a brilliant and carefully thought-out compact module that is easy to transport and deploy, but also provides incentives for the participants to take ownership in the community resource.

Jun 24, 2008

Architecture for Humanity featured on Frontline/World

Frontline/World, the award winning documentary series, featured the work of Architecture for Humanity in their June 2008 episode. For more information or air times, check your local listings. or watch it online now.

This story focuses on some of our post-tsunami reconstruction in Tamil Nadu, India by design fellow Purnima Mc Cutcheon. Reporter Singeli Agnew travels to the Bay of Bengal in southeast India, where communities are still struggling to rebuild after a tsunami devastated the coast four years ago.

Jun 23, 2008

Sportables Design Challenge

Around the world nothing connects kids like the power of play. In areas of great need there is an opportunity to use sports as a catalyst for social change.

The challenge: design a solution to create a highly demountable, portable sports product library, product development studio, and futsal (soccer) play area. This “pop-up” facility will be deployed to provide much needed (and desired) jerseys, shoes, and balls to communities that would welcome and use them to inspire change for youth of both genders.

For this Open Architecture Network design challenge, Architecture for Humanity is teaming up with Google SketchUp to bring the power of play to Capao Redondo, a densely packed, but colorful, friendly and energetic settlement on the outskirts of Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Jun 22, 2008

2009 Open Architecture Challenge

Each year Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Challenge design competition brings public attention to inequities in the built environment affecting the health, prosperity and well being of under-served communities. In 2009 the Open Architecture Challenge will focus on the issue of portable classrooms.

In 2003, the Modular Building Institute estimated that more than 220,000 K-12 portable classrooms were in use by public school systems. Because school systems cannot readily access capital funding, these temporary and makeshift classrooms have become an unintended fixture of many educational campuses. In the United States alone more than 6 million students spend much of their day in “portable” classrooms. Anyone who has spent time in one of these classrooms knows that we can do better.

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