This year we repeat our homage to public interest design in holiday song format, highlighting 12 great moments of humanity and architecture, for 12 days. Enjoy!
Twelve Thirteen Venice Bases
[UN]RESTRICTED Venice - Venice, Italy, and Worldwide
August 27th kicked off the well-defended exhibition of finalists and winners of the Open Architecture Challenge to re-imagine defunct military bases - [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS. The exhibition was part of the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, and several of the entrants were able to fly in from across the world to meet one another, discuss their work and boogie down. The Challenge may have ended, but the path of these and 150 other entered designs have only just begun. Nearly as many focus sites mean an impressive collection of best practices are being built to trailblaze positive and healing built alternatives to hundreds of neglected military installations.
| Support the next generation of humanitarian designers. |  |
Eleven Commune Map Sets
Mapping Haiti's Uncharted Communes - 11 Communes around Haiti
How better to benefit 500,000 people than by making them maps? With a grant from the WK Kellogg Foundation, Architecture for Humanity are mapping eleven communes across southern and central Haiti: Cavaillon, Maniche, Mirebalais, Saut d'Eau, Boucan Carre, Lachapelle, Arcahaie, Aquin, St Louis du Sud, Cayes, and Ile a Vache. After months of work, entire days wandering through villages marking coordinates, the Haiti Rebuilding Center survey team completed the first GPS-based maps ever recorded for these communes.
| Support the very foundations of reconstruction. | |
Ten Times-eight Sketches
BAR hosts "I Love Architecture" sketch view party - San Francisco and Worldwide
That's to say, over 80 sketches from world renown architects and artists were donated for the I Love Architecture campaign. From February through June, HQ was the delighted recipient of tubes and flat packs of incredible contributions, which went to auction in July to support general funds.
We DO have a few left that we are honoring generous donors with as thanks for their support.
| Support the development of future projects and programs. | |
Nine Civic Sculptures
Civic Art for Haiti Schools - 9 project sites in Haiti
Call them a "Haitian artist collective." Twenty creatives have been invited through an RFP to design, build and install Civic Art in Schools through microgrants sponsored by the Digicel Foundation and Deutsche Bank.
| Support the enrichment of learning spaces. | |
Eight fields a-playing
Nike Gamechangers Round 2 - Global
The Nike Gamechangers grants program enabled the completion of eight sites promoting activity, play and friendly competition–from a skate park in New York City's Lower East side; two sties of sports infrastructure in Delhi, India; a center for girls' empowerment through football in Jharkhand, India; basketball and playground in Gan Hai Zi, a Chinese mountain village; A football/technology center in Talca, Chile; basketball for the 1200 students at the Pele school in Port-au-Prince; and a farm-turned reclaimed public sports pitch for tsunami-stricken Motoyoshi, Japan.
| Support construction of active spaces for youth. | |
Sette Nuovi Progetti
Enel Community Empowerment Program - Latin America & Eastern Europe
Since December 2011 Architecture for Humanity has been working with Enel, Europe's second largest utility company and a pioneer in sustainable energy around the world, in a program that will build capacity in communities living in rural and urban areas, affected by considerable poverty and social disadvantage.
| Support the pursuit of local partnerships to strengthen disadvantaged communities. | |
Six African Soils
Football for Hope - Africa
Last Summer five Football for Hope projects broke ground nigh simultaneously, joining George's QwaQwa project in construction and prompting an elephant-adorned "run" to completion by Spring 2013. Each Design Fellow in the field directed their designs through local materials, customs and builders to deliver safe spaces for play, health and learning for youth across the breadth and height of the African continent. Amazing.
| Support our Design Fellowship Program. | |
Fiiiiive Stroonnnnngerrrr Schooooools
Architecture build education - Global
We opened five schools this year in Haiti, Mexico and Peru: Montrouis, Elie Dubois, 16 de Septiembre, Divino Nino Jesus and Bon Berger Pele show the diversity of learning spaces achievable through great design, local coordination, materials and resources. And while they're not "school" schools, P.A.T.E.A, the Sauti Kuu center, Football for Hopes Ghana and Rwanda, the Kitakami youth center, and five other 2012 projects provide education-dedicated spaces. We hope there's enough "oooooo" in "schooooools" to acknowledge them all!
| Support the continued dedication to safe, strong learning spaces. | |
Four New-Formed Chapters
Chapter Network - Global
Our chapters network reached four new cities in 2012, and we welcome of Santa Barbara, San Diego, Honolulu and Manila to our clan. The Chapter network enables anyone with passion, steadfastness and design thinking to join our work. (This means you.) The Manila chapter was founded thanks to funds raised in response to flooding in the Philippines that occurred again this fall–meaning the region has a new force addressing this disastrous seasonal occurrence.
| Support the growth of our design network. | |
Three Design Conferences
Design Like You Give a Damn: LIVE! 2012 - San Francisco
November 12-13 saw an influx of international compassionate types to the Autodesk Gallery at 1 Market Street, San Francisco. Celebrating the (re)gathering of humanitarian ideologues, the third annual Design Like You Give a Damn: LIVE! conference, its panels, discussions and presentations cemented the two-day event as a staple for the annual design calendar.
| Support humanitarian design advocacy. | |
Two #GiveADamn Books
Design Like You Give a Damn [2] - Global
On May 1, the long-awaited follow up to the 2006 Design Like You Give a Damn book hit the shelves - and is bigger and (arguably) better than the original. "DLYGAD2," as it's known in house, covers over 100 projects by our peers in the world of humanitarian design–and includes project follow-ups from Volume 1, a 6 year retrospective of Architecture for Humanity by Cameron Sinclair and an essay on financing sustainable community development by Kate Stohr. So it's less of a coffee table book and more of a coffee table manual–much like its predecessor.
You can read more about these volumes, and about other great gifts for any season, at our store.
| Support humanitarian design advocacy. | |
And a New Jerseyan running for the Shore
Ed & Hurricane Sandy Reconstruction - New York and New Jersey coast
Ed Kloskowski is not a designer or an architect. But upon seeing his native New Jersey struggling in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, he took it upon himself to do what he does in the name of awareness for recovery: Ed ran. Ed ran the length of New Jersey, 220 miles from November 16-21 CARRYING A FLAG, meeting community members and raising nearly $10,000 online for Sandy recovery. We appreciate his support as we launch our New Jersey and New York programs for long-term sustainable reconstruction.
Image by Ed Kloskowski
| Support sustainable reconstruction of the Eastern Seaboard. | |
 What do you see?Where others see blight, poverty and destruction, Architecture for Humanity sees a great place.Our What Do You See campaign aims to raise $350,000 in general support for Architecture for Humanity by 2013. Donations towards general support fund the day-to-day operations of Architecture for Humanity and are crucial to keep our organization strong. Instead of going to specific projects or programs, funds for general support go towards supporting our chapters, the development of unfunded programs and projects, training and leadership programs, administration and good governance. Less than 15% of our total funding is spent on operations. Your donation ensures we are there to help communities in need and rebuild after disaster. Together we have provided places to live, learn, work, gather and heal for 2.5 million people in more than 40 countries. Thank you to all who follow our work, appreciate what we do, and donate to help ensure that everyone can live in a great place. Learn more |
