Anand's Surprise Birthday/Myanmar Clinic Fundraiser

Saturday, August 8, 2009
7p-10p
Velo Rouge Cafe
798 Arguello St (@ McAllister)

This is the first fund raising drive of this cause since 2008 - Let's build a clinic for Burmese villagers.
-----
Architecture for Humanity is one of the few groups currently working in Myanmar. Our talented design team has been restoring and rebuilding coastal villages affected by last years' cyclone.

Anand Sheth, one of our SF design fellows, worked on our post-Cyclone Nargis campaign last year. On August 8th, his friends are holding a surprise 21st birthday party and have asked everyone coming to bring donations for this project, instead of presents.

The ultimate goal of this fundraiser is to raise $10,000 and we can build a safe medical clinic for 2000 people. Read more at: http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/myanmar

Change doesn’t happen by chance, it happens by design.

Social Designer strives to spark new thinking about the issues that matter most by encouraging the design community to create fun, socially-relevant graphics for tees, totes and other goods. We do this both by holding weekly design competitions to create products that support meaningful causes — all winning designs are available for purchase — and by selling goods with a strong social or environmental value.

It’s easy to do something good -- for every product sold, a percentage of profits will be donated to our charity, non-profit or NGO partners. Social Designer is proud to partner with Architecture for Humanity – so click here and buy a tee today that directly supports our cause.

Dear Architecture For Humanity,

I first met Kate Stohr in one of the early planning meetings for the Open Architecture Network (OAN). That was October 2006. I was in my first semester at Presidio School of Management studying sustainable business, while also working at Sun Microsystems as an Architect (not the licensed kind that designs buildings, but the virtual geeky kind that works on Internet systems designs). It was through Sun's support of Cameron's 2006 TED Prize wish that I got connected to this project and Kate was my first contact with AFH. It was immediately clear to me that Kate and the rest of AFH were doing something relevant, unique, and valuable, so I was excited to help in any way I could.

There is less than two weeks until the final round of the jury and After Ed TV has released the third and final episode of School Redesign. Check it out.

Laura Allen of Greywater Guerrilas stopped by today to give us the lowdown on recycling greywater and the new draft permitting rules on the table in California to encourage rainwater harvesting and catchment systems. She offered some practical advice on installing residential greywater systems (three-way valve, anyone?) and some background on commercial systems. We'll never look at a toilet or washing machine the same way again.

Interested in installing your own greywater system or want to learn more, visit:

www.greywaterguerrillas.com

Check out their book: Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground

From designing recycling containers to rebuilding a school campus for women in Rwanda, the chapters are doing amazing work around the world. Here are a few examples of AFH chapter projects:

AFHNY: On May 9th 2009, AFHNY joined architects, designers, artists, and assorted kite lovers converged on Manhattan’s Riverside Park for the first annual FlyNY, an international kite design competition. The top three designs will be featured in an article in the June issue of Metropolis magazine, and all winning kites will be auctioned off at a party in Chelsea on May 28th, with proceeds benefiting Architecture for Humanity.

Got the post challenge blues? Let's hack Google!

In honor of Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday, Google SketchUp partnered with The Guggenheim Museum to launch a competition to design a simple shelter. By using Google SketchUp and Google Earth you can choose any site and create any basic dwelling (without water, gas or electricity). While it is a great creative initiative, it could go one step further by challenging participants to design with purpose.