A lot of attention is being paid today to the anniversary of Haiti's massive, nation-changing earthquake (and rightly so). But this day shares significance with a disaster in another part of the world. Between January 11 and 12, 2011, 144 mm of rain fell near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The rains led to flooding which led to mudslides which led to landslides destroying an estimated 3000 houses, displacing 100,000 Brazilians and causing over 900 deaths. The precipitation in those 24 hours surpassed the monthly average and resulted in the worst natural disaster and preventable loss in Brazilian history.

While the development team is busy with year end fundraising goals, the GAMECHANGERS team is busy with year end fundgiving. For one week (starting now), we are reopening the Request for Proposals -- open to locally-based organizations that empower the community through sport as a mechanism to spur social change and/or economic development.

Projects can, and should be, be anywhere on this planet.

learn more and enter

Congrats to Jens Holm of HAO, winner of the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark RFP, and co-conspirator Kay D. Vorderwuelbecke (don’t worry, we can’t pronounce it either) of VM Design Studio. As design consultants, they will work with our fearless team on the ground – Design Fellow Preeti Sodhi + Community Partner Steve Rodriguez – to reshape some of the non-skate obstacles at the periphery of the new skatepark.

These transformers will turn underused space and overused fences into…um, well, we’re not quite sure yet. But we like their vision, we like dogs and we love fun. Something we, and this park, could all use a little more of.

In NYC this weekend? 'cause we will be and would love to see you at the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark to help us rethink and revision borders, boundaries, and edges in the public realm.

As part of Urban Design Week, Architecture for Humanity invites skateboarders, designers, planners, neighbors and members of the public to show us how the skatepark and adjacent public areas of greater Coleman Oval Park should and could look.

When: Sunday September 18, 2011 | 12pm-2pm
Where: Manhattan Bridge Skatepark (in Coleman Oval Park). Northeast corner @ red stadium seating. Need a map?
Cost: free

Futsala, aka street football, is temporarily turning car space into public space with the recent completion of two pitches. Another awesome example of what a little paint, a lot of creativity, and major inspiration can accomplish.

With a Gamechangers microgrant, our friends at the Buró de Intervenciones Públicas (BIP) in Guatemala City have been working tirelessly with community groups and public officials to install the first of many street football pitches planned for various low-income residential areas around the city.

But don't worry, we know that form follows parking. The goal posts can be moved and securely stored nearby to let the automobiles return to business and do what they do best. Brilliant!

Architecture for Humanity is excited to award another GAMECHANGERS grant to Magic Bus -- an India based organization that empowers children, youth and communities in areas of education, gender, health, leadership + livelihood through sport for development.

The grant will fund the design and improvements to roughly 6 centers that facilitate community oriented sports programs in under privileged neighborhoods of Delhi. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as local Design Fellow Keshav Kumar works with Nike India, Magic Bus and their local partners to complete initial site assessments and reports.

Learn more about the Creation of Sports Infrastructure in Delhi.

Architecture for Humanity, 5Boro Skateboards, Nike, New Yorkers and skaterboarders are all getting stoked for improvements coming to the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark.

The park redesign and construction will be made in three phases – and we have recently launched an RFP, asking designers to skate the park (or rather, attempt to), dust off their trace, and show us what they envision for Phases 2 + 3 – bridging the gap between skateboarders, dogs, strollers and ballers.

Calling all NYC Architects

This year Architecture for Humanity and Steve Rodriguez, founder of 5Boro Skateboards, will be adopting a park from New York City Parks & Recreation. We are looking for a NYC based architecture and/or landscape firm to work with us to make improvements to the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark (aka Coleman Oval, aka LES).

To apply and to receive additional information you must:

New York, NY. In honor of tomorrows’ Go Skateboarding Day, the official holiday that celebrates skateboarding, Architecture for Humanity and NIKE are pleased to announce the next Gamechangers grant recipient, Steve Rodriguez (founder of 5boro Skateboards in NYC), and plans to revitalize the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark in New York City. Given its proximity to popular downtown skate spots, and the recent closing of the Brooklyn Banks, it has become the skatepark of choice for many skateboarders and home to numerous skateboarding events. It is time to create a world-class venue for the best skaters in New York City.

Construction is well under way in San Pedro Apóstol, Mexico where local architects, artists, teachers and natural builders Joao Caeiro and Fulvio Capurso are working with a team of students and community members to design and construct a new sports center. Funded by a GAMECHANGERS microgrant, the rural sports center will be a welcomed hub for commerce, entertainment, sport and recreation.

Through skills training and workshops, the design team is training builders in indigenous and natural building materials and methods -- using bamboo, adobe, and compressed earth -- while also providing the technical guidance to learn from traditional methods in innovative ways.

We love it.

click here to learn more

On June 5th, São Paulo, Brazil hosted a city wide event to celebrate World Environment Day. Our local team for Vida Corrida, Design Fellow Carla Dal Mas and architects from Fábrica de Projetos, participated by sharing initial concepts and asking residents: how can this project activate the community and help support a cleaner environment?

Kids of all ages participated. This is what they told, and drew, for us...

Don't litter. Be conscious and conserve. If you must use plastic, recycle it. Respect the natural world. Lets create a venue for culture, music and dance. Peace would be nice. Lets swim, play soccer and never stop running. Fun is good, we should have more of it.

With excitement rivaling the 1994 World Cup finals, the winner of the Copa Arquitectura has been decided. Congratulations to the team from Brazil, Urban Recycle Architecture Studio, who is taking home the Copa: $2K in cash and a $2K stipend to develop their design while working with local architects, partners and the community to realize a new center for Liga FOS in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Winner
Community Center for Youth and Sports

Second Place
Mor + ecomunidad

Third Place
Centro Deportivo FOS

Fourth Place
Moreno FC

Nelson Mandela says that sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. We agree.

Changing the world one sports center at a time, Architecture for Humanity and Nike are excited to announce another GAMECHANGERS Sports Micro-Venture Fund grant recipient -- the San Pedro Apóstol | Rural Sports Center. With a GAMECHANGERS grant, the design team + community will build a center that will be a foundation for the social, economic, sustainable and cultural development of the city and the community -- a hub for sport, recreation, entertainment, and commerce.

11 Finalists from the Copa Arquitectura have been selected for a final round of jurying. Stay tuned on April 15 when we announce the runner up/s and the winning design that will pave the way for the new prototype center for Liga FOS.

Why football?
Football is one of the best vehicles for social change (not to mention it’s fun to play). As fans of social change AND fun, Architecture for Humanity, Nike, and Fu.De (Football for Development) have teamed up to host a design competition for a prototype football, education, and health center for Liga FOS -- a project that promotes social development through sport in vulnerable Buenos Aires suburbs.

The Finalists are…

Mi barrio es el mejor! | Argentina
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/8802

Copa Arquitectura Moreno | Argentina

Architecture for Humanity and Nike are excited to announce two more of the final GAMECHANGERS Sports Micro-Venture Fund grant recipients -- supporting the construction of sports facilities and programs that empower the community, using sport as a mechanism to spur social change and/or economic development.

And, there are about 1-1/2 weeks to enter the Copa Arquitectura. Get your prisma colors out and design a small youth football (soccer) facility for less than $45,000 USD. $5000 in awards + stipends and your ideas built in Argentina later this year.

WINNER | Vida Corrida
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Today Javier Pastore, top scorer in the Italian League for Palermo and Argentine national player, has joined the jury for the Copa Arquitectura competition. We thank him for his dedication to support a youth center for Liga FOS in his home country and commitment to underserved youth.

While we might be able to draw better than him, we think he's got us beat on the pitch.

Over the next 6 weeks Architecture for Humanity and Nike are excited to announce the final GAMECHANGERS Sports Micro-Venture Fund grant recipients -- supporting the construction of sports facilities and programs that empower the community, using sport as a mechanism to spur social change and/or economic development.

We received almost 250 diverse proposals from all corners of the globe (view them all here), giving the jury the challenging task of identifying those projects and partners to whom the grants will be disbursed.

We are honored to announce the first three and invite you to enter a design competition:

WINNER | Liga FOS - Fútbol para la Oportunidad Social
Location: Moreno, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Today we are honored to launch our first international design competition of 2011, Copa Arquitectura. If you are game, you have 6 weeks to partner with a designer from a 2011 Copa America country to design a small youth football (soccer) facility for less than $45,000 for liga FOS.

Running in parallel to the 2011 Copa America, we will award 'national team' finalists that will compete for the cup. The prize, $2000 + $2000 in design fees + your idea built in Argentina later this year.

Enter today, and good luck.

SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul is a beautifully shot film that follows the lives of a group of young skateboarders in Afghanistan. Operating against the backdrop of war and bleak prospects, the Skateistan charity project is the world’s first co-educational skateboarding school, where a team of international volunteers work with girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 17, an age group largely untouched by other aid programmes.

In 2009 Architecture for Humanity and Nike Inc. helped to fund the Skateistan center in Afghanistan.

Film by Orlando Von Einsiedel

The Round 2 submission period for the GAMECHANGERS | Sports Micro-Venture Fund closed October 29. The jury is working hard, reviewing and evaluating the diverse proposals -- 233 from 61 countries -- from a Mobile Canoe Hub for disabled children in Fiji, to reconstructing play after the Tsunami, to the Gloves for Guns program that supports former child soldiers.

Congratulations to Design Fellow Daniel Feldman and project partners Homeless World Cup, Instituto Bola pra Frente, Organização Civil de Ação Social (OCAS), and Nike on the completion of Bola pra Frente, Santa Cruz - a legacy of the Homeless World Cup 2010, Rio de Janeiro designed by Lompreta Nolte Arquitetos and Nanda Eskes Arquitetura. Ceremonies today opened the community center and street football pitch to the community of Santa Cruz.

The Legacy Center is the 3rd project completed through Round One of Architecture For Humanity and Nike's GameChangers grant program. The jury is out for the GameChangers Sports Micro-Venture Fund Request For Proposals Round 2 which wrapped up in October. Look for winners to be announced in the coming weeks.

In 2008, while celebrating the success in bringing purified water, electricity and a computer lab to the St. Joseph Mahiga Primary School in Kenya, Turk Pipkin and The Nobelity Project were asked by the local community and the Kenyan education district to partner on building the area's first secondary school. The plan to build Mahiga Hope High School took a crucial step when the Nike GameChangers Fund was presented to the team's proposal to build a RainWater Court, a multi-use basketball court which would also provides the school's purified drinking water.

More than a Game

Based on an overwhelming response to the
GameChangers Sports Micro-Venture Fund, Architecture For Humanity is excited to extend the deadline of the Request For Proposals until October 29, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST time.

For the teams that have already submitted, we have begun to review your Proposals but please feel free to update until the extended deadline. Please share this opportunity widely within your networks. Have questions? Contact us.

With $500,000 on the line this is your last chance to get funding to build a sports facility that effects positive change in the community. As we want to give away as much as possible we decided to make our own videos to promote the fund.

Today, design fellow Alix shows the world how to eat concrete.

Nike and the Ashoka's Changemakers partnered to mobilize millions of people inspired by sport and social change to participate in an initiative that blends the worldwide obsession with soccer and Ashoka's 30+ years as a leader in philanthropy.

Changemakers Football Initiative honors Football projects in Bolivia, Guatemala, Brasil, Iraq, and the Grand Prize Global Winner Jawa Barat, Indonesia.

Building on the success of two previous collaborative competitions, "Changing Lives Through Football" brought together the next wave of leaders who are eager to find ways that sport can unleash the potential of young people, strengthen their communities, boost development, and affect change. In total 293 entrants in 60 countries submitted their innovative ideas and 12 have been shortlisted as finalists. The voting process launches today and ends August 18.

Today marks the six month anniversary since the 8.8 earthquake which struck Chile. We are humbled by the ability to be a small part of the recovery effort. Thanks to our partnership with Nike we are funding the building of an community sports, education and technology center in Talca. This project was selected through an open RFP process via our Build Back Better site

In the short-term the center can be used as a shelter for some of the 31,000 displaced residents and transform into community anchor focused on sports, cultural and economical aspects as well as provide a source of income for its financing in time.

The team celebrated the topping out of the Mahiga Rainwater Court with a ceremony last week. The project, funded by Nike GameChangers, is one element of the community campus built in Mahiga over the last year by the Nobelity Project. Design Fellow Greg Elsner and the entire construction team signed the top chord of the final truss and secured a Kenyan Flag before lifting the truss into place by way of the 9 meter wooden hoist.

In the final weeks of project, the team works to complete the roof structure, coordinate the construction of the two water storage tanks, installation of UV-filter system, and completion of the landscaping before the opening on October 1.

Rumor has it the Kenyan National Women's Basketball team may be on hand to sink the first hoop - that is if they can make it past Greg's defense. Let's just say - he knows the court well.

Congratulations to the architectural team of Lompreta Nolte Arquitetos / Nanda Eskes Arquitetura and our Rio based Design Fellow Daniel Feldman, who handed the site over to contractor Jermo Engenheria for the 11-week construction of the Homeless World Cup Legacy Center at Instituto Bola Pra Frente in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Construction will pause briefly in September 20-26 while the Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup takes over Copacabana Beach so the 64 teams from across the globe can test out the Homeless World Cup Legacy's new Greenfields Street Football Pitch.

Also keep an eye out for the Mobile Retail Kiosk, designed by Daniel Feldman, on the beach during the event selling the latest Homeless World Cup Fan Wear, made from offcuts from the Brazilian National Jersey. Look for the full Mobile Enterprise Kiosk story in the coming weeks.

The GameChangers Sports Micro-Venture isn't about your social network, crowd sourcing, or influencer funding - we'll provide funds where they are needed most.

GameChangers Request For Proposals website

We are seeking proposals for the final round of funding to support the construction of sports facilities offering programs that tackle social issues in the community. This Request for Proposal (RFP) process will award up to $500,000 in funds and is directed toward micro-interventions with a construction time line of 6 to 9 months. The majority of these grants will be $25,000 for building or upgrading facilities and completing existing projects. At the discretion of the funding team a small number of selected proposals will be awarded additional funds based on need and scope of impact.

Apply to GameChangers Request For Proposals

The Homeless World Cup will be taking over Copacabana Beach this September and Architecture For Humanity is proud to be creating the Homeless World Cup Legacy in Brazil as part of Nike GameChangers.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual world class, international football tournament inspiring 64 national grass roots football projects and over 30,000 homeless players to change their lives: over 70% change for the better.

Local Architects Thorsten Nolte and Nanda Eskes are finalizing drawings for the Homeless World Cup legacy center in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Homeless World Cup and Instituto Bola Pra Frente. The team is pushing towards groundbreaking in July and completion by the Homeless World Cup in September.