Architecture For Humanity's Gulf Coast projects are featured in the Iconoclast series. The Guardians Institute designed by the Rockwell Group, and the Biloxi Model Home Program show that bringing back a sense of community after a disaster takes more than just building.

Nov. 20th at 10PM E/P on the Sundance Channel

Make a donation to the Guardians Institute and help us bring community back to New Orleans.

We'd like to thank all of the architects and designers, sponsors, volunteers, families, and community partners who made these projects possible. See our sponsors.

Since Cyclone Nargis ravaged the shores of Myanmar (Burma) we have been coordinating a rebuilding effort, thanks in part to online donations from individuals. Our team working on the ground has done a series off assessments and is now officially partnering with ASEAN to work on community revitalization of an area south of Rangoon. With funds available we will continue to support the Bangkok based team and will update you on further developments.

The TunaHAKI intergrated threater and orphanage has been recognized by the prestigious Holcim Foundation with an award for its' outstanding design and use of appropriate materials. Designed by Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects from Helsinki, Finland and Armstrong + Cohen Architecture from Gainesville, USA alongside the staff and children of TunaHAKI in Moshi, Tanzania. A truly global project spanning three continents.

Nathaniel Corum is partnering with USC to help develop and design the living quarters for Plastiki. Plastiki is the brainchild of intrepid environmental explorer David de Rothchild and will set sail from San Francisco to Sydney in early 2009.

Mattresses are our friends. For years, mattresses selflessly serve our sleeping pleasure. We should all be grateful for our mattresses; after all, most of us were conceived on one.

Why, then, are millions of mattresses being abandoned in dumps and left to the seagulls? In the U.S. alone 40 million mattresses get thrown away every year. Don’t our mattresses deserve another chance?

Architecture for Humanity and Rubicon National Social Innovations invite designers from around the world to create innovative ways of converting used mattresses into useful products.

Hurricane Ike, which battered Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier in the week, has hit Galvaston, Texas. Powerful 110mph+ winds and torrential rain has caused major flooding and areas of the town are currently under 5 ft of water. Galvaston is famous for the Hurricane of 1900, the deadliest hurricane in US history.

The path of the storm is struck Houston in the early morning of September 13th and caused power outages and minor damage. The extent of the damage is not yet known.

Architecture for Humanity and Lulan Artisans are partnering to build off-the-grid sustainable weaving cooperatives for women throughout South Asia. Thanks to your support we are in the semi-finals of the $2.5M American Express Members Project. We now have a one in five chance of winning funds needed to fund this program and need your vote.

Out of the top 25, it is the only project that demonstrates a hybrid for-profit/non-profit business model, to propel local cooperatives into strong economic engines with this developmental seed funding. Additionally, it is the only project in contention that is using Creative Commons licensing to openly distribute the building design solutions for these centers.

This weekend two strong storms emerged in the Gulf. On a day where we were to remember the three years since Hurricane Katrina our teams were helping families evacuate. Most, if not all, of our families and staff are out by now. Below I've added a series of resources.

The best site for tracking storms is stormpulse. Gustav hit 70 miles South of New Orleans, LA and 130 miles southwest of Biloxi, MS on September 1st. As of 12pm (Sept. 1) there are storm surges of 6-8ft in Biloxi, 9ft in Waveland and the west bacnk of the Industrial Canal levees are being topped over.

Tropical Storm Hanna is currently on course to become a Hurricane on Thursday September 4th and hit landfall on the 5th somewhere from Miami, Florida to Savannah, Georgia.

This weekend Architecture for Humanity co-founder Cameron Sinclair will be profiled alongside Peter Head of Arup and Daniel Libeskind as part of a program entitled Principal Voices: Design for Good.

This program includes footage of project work in Kenya and the United States as well as a debate on design, filmed in Singapore this summer.

Design is only innovative if it is shared.

This week sees the publication of our second book, the first in a series entitled Rebuilding after Disaster. This 100 page softbound book covers the birth, development and construction of the Biloxi Model Home Program and a honest look at what it really takes to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. This is a field guide for getting it done.

The first edition will ONLY be available from our website and newsletter for $30 plus tax/shipping. All proceeds will go towards the rebuilding effort. Currently you can pre-order a book via links from our monthly newsletter and on this site starting September 1st.