_ AFH is homelenss
_ Open Architecture Network
_ Project Updates
_ New Faces, Job Opportunities
_ Upcoming Events
_ AIA National Convention Events - FREE

Hello all,
It is six in the morning and I've already had four espressos – so please forgive the tone of this month's newsletter. I'm a little wired.

April is always a fun month around the Architecture for Humanity offices - it means we've made it through another year. This year is extra special to us as we have projects under construction in six countries, in particular getting to see the Biloxi Model Home projects come to life. Not only that but we have reached our eight-year anniversary and the five-year mark as a registered nonprofit. We really could not have reached this far without the incredible public support and donations we've received over the recent years. Thank you to all who have contributed, be it design services, financial contributions or simply donating a few hours of your time to help a project move forward.

As we expand and grow we are taking on more staff, both volunteer and full-time. With the influx of new projects we have positions coming up all the time so be sure to keep an eye out in future newsletters. I am also coming to the AIA National Convention for the first time ever and, given the late decision, I am looking for a place to stay. If you are going and want to go dutch on the hotel, please email asap. I may swing by UT-Austin for a surprise talk on the 2nd.

On April 24th (11am PST) we go virtual with a talk in Second Life. In Bucky's honor we are housing the Second Life homeless with free World Shelter geodesic domes. Also be on the look out for projects happening in the Pacific Northwest as Architecture For Humanity Portland is our latest chapter to emerge.

Finally we are saddened to report the recent passing of ‘Laurie' Baker, a pioneer in humanitarian design, who died on April 1st. At the ripe age of 90 he continued to work on the design and construction of low-income housing solutions in India. He was a true testament of designer of sought out a marriage between truth and beauty in the built environment. Baker was once asked about his design theory and philosophy and he replied, "Sometimes a wall is just a wall".

Thank you for making the last eight years truly memorable.

Cheers,
Cameron Sinclair.


AFH is homeless

Oh, the irony. We lose our beautiful donated space with the The Preventive Medicine Research Institute (if you don't know about their good work, you should) in a few months and are looking for permanent office space in San Francisco. Ideally we'd like to find someone willing to donate space or sponsor rental space for 10 to 14 people. We'd like a three-year commitment because shorter-term leases/relocating is quite expensive. We need approximately 2000 sq. ft, (1200 sq. ft if there is access to a shared conference room) somewhere centrally located in the city. Funding, space and referrals are all welcome. Have a vacant building that needs some sprucing up? We'll take it. We'll be living with some of our like-minded green community designers so you'd be housing two sustainable groups for the price of one. It doesn't get any greener!

Open Architecture Network - One million visitors in the first month

Um, wow! The Open Architecture Network has really exceed expectations with more than a million site visits, 3800+ registered users and 200+ projects uploaded in the last 30 days. This is only just the start and hats off to all you pioneers who ventured in to find out what it is all about.

So sign up, start a project and share your ideas, solutions and even failures with thousands of like-minded individuals and groups. Last week there were some great additions to the network including the Cradle to Cradle competition-winning spinach-powered house, a beautiful primary school called Olifantsvlei uploaded by Astrid Dahmen and a low-income housing unit at 2126 Pierce St., Detroit by design/build group Housing Operative.

Many of you have written in with suggestions for improving the site - PLEASE keep them coming. Our good friends at Sun Microsystems and BPO Canada have offered us another year of support to tweak, refine and add features to the network. One big question we've been getting is Can I get help putting my project up? Certainly, we are here to help. For those who are interested in becoming content partners (posting more than five projects) we can also help you to upload files and images to the Network [this includes AIAS members who want help with uploading Freedom By Design projects]. Very soon we will have a more fluid file upload and display mechanism. The second big question is When are the resources going live? Again, very soon. We realized days before the launch, with only four people in the office, we did not have the manpower to manage and maintain the resources area AND give the focus needed on the projects area. Remember the OAN is a FREE service and we want it to remain free, so please bare with us. However, drrrr-umroll, we are hiring! Yup you heard right – Embrace your inner-nerd, geek out on the Network and get paid (see below).

The final big question has been When is the Open Architecture Prize Competition launching? I know, it is an incredible prize. Not only is this the largest purse in the world for an architecture prize (thank you AMD!) but also by using the funds to implement your design this will directly affect hundreds of lives. Not only that but you will get the opportunity to travel and work with the community to see your idea come to life. We have a target date of mid-June for the launch, with the submission period set to run through until late November. Currently we are speaking with potential in-country partners and groups to locate a specific site, community and, most importantly, partnership with an NGO (or NGOs) that will take on the running and long-term maintenance of the winning implemented structure.

All suggestions, questions and random thoughts should be emailed to the OAN administrator, and she will respond tout suite.