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Monthly Newsletter
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Happy nine.
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Dear all,
The AMD Open Architecture Challenge jurying is now in the final round as the top 20 designs are currently in the hands of the community clients in Ecuador, Kenya and Nepal. Huge thanks to all the design fellows in our office who printed
out all of the materials and got them to each respective client. (Yes, printed. Three sites x 20 entries x 5+ images per entry. See below.)
Those who have been following us for a while will know that we unofficially began on April 6th 1999. This makes us nine years young this month. We continue to be taken aback by the growth of the organization. In particular we are
truly grateful for the ongoing support you've shown us over the years.
Things on our to do list: better
supporting our chapters and helping start new ones, growing our
design fellowship program, and continuing to develop the
Open Architecture Network. Help definitely wanted! We're especially excited about this month's volunteer opportunities to
design and construct world class schools with UNICEF in Western Africa
This is the time of the year where we really need your help. The majority of our funding comes from individual donations and with less than 8% overhead we have one of the highest program focused percentages of almost any non profit.
However to expand and support our design programs we need more than 'end of year' giving. So, please take a moment to
Own the Day--Yes! Own it!--and support good design.
Also check out
Movie Night Chez AFH as part of Pangea Day, the latest on
our 'open' office redesign and a few
chapter updates.
If you'd like to join a chapter, help start one, or learn more about how you can get involved,
give us a shout.
Cheers,
All of us at Architecture for Humanity
Chapter Updates |
Open Architecture Challenge |
Comings and Goings |
Get Involved |
Opportunities |
Events
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Chapter Updates
Boston: Run Like You Give a Damn
Each year,
Architecture for Humanity Boston rallies the design community and asks of it one simple question: Who is the
World's Fastest AFH'er? This past Saturday 400 runners stepped forward to compete for the title. This year's winners: Brian McNamara ran Architecture for Humanity Boston's annual
Run Like You Give a Damn 5k race in just over 16 minutes placed first in the men's catagory (no cappuccino breaks--not even one little sip!). On the women's front, Alexandra Lang placed first with a time of 18:53. (
See full race standings.)
Wanna Run Design for Humanity? The Boston chapter is hosting a second race in conjunction with this year's upcoming AIA convention as well. Contact
Architecture for Humanity Boston to get the details.
San Diego: Helping Families Rebuild in California
Architecture for Humanity San Diego-Rebuild in San Diego is working with families affected by this summer's wildfires in Southern California to build back more sustainably. The chapter is collaborating with a number of other
non-profit organizations to provide Green Building/Fire Prevention pro-bono consultation services. With the resources of Rebuild Central (a partnership of Architecture for Humanity Rebuild, the California Center for Sustainable Energy and
United Green), they are able to provide a one-stop rebuild resource to fire survivors.
Learn more |
Get involved
New York: Home-less
Started as a soup kitchen in 1981,
Broadway Community Inc. currently provides services ranging from art therapy and catering and a women's shelter from its space in Morningside Heights. AFHny's project includes the design of an area to provide mental health and medical
referrals to clients and additional storage for the women's shelter.
Learn more. |
Get Involved.
Chicago: The Rebirth
For the past 18 months AFH Chicago has been on hiatus. We are thrilled that Jaclyn Whitaker and
Helen Schneider have stepped forward to pick up the baton with some awesome Archiworks students and alum, as well as some of the cities finest design professionals. To help the windy city chapter grow please
email them and offer your support, services or local pro-bono opportunities.
Chapter members: Have a chapter update you'd like us to post? Email us at chapters@architectureforhumanity.org, and we'll make it happen.
AMD Open Architecture Challenge Update
If you entered the
AMD Open Architecture Challenge, chances are you may be wondering why it is taking so long to choose the winners? Well, here's the thing. As the focus of the competition was on helping communities who currently do not have
adequate digital access design and build technology facilities, getting their input hasn't been all that easy. For example, we couldn't simply direct them to our new spiffy online competition tool on the
Open Architecture Network when they don't have any access. So, we're jurying this one old school. That's right, printing each image of each eligible entry out (why we asked for 11x17) and mailing them to each of the three community
partners. The communities are reviewing your designs as we speak, uh, email.
Thanks for your patience as we trek the digital divide, and to Architecture for Humanity's staff and all the volunteers who collated like heroes. The winners of the competition will be informed as soon as we hear back from the clients and
announcements of winning entries will be made at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa and a couple of other global event simultaneously in early June.
Comings and Goings
Elaine Uang - Content Manager
Every once in a while we find a volunteer we can't bear to lose. Actually, that's most days. Unfortunately, usually we don't have the right position open. Lucky for us, however, Elaine Uang came just as we were looking to hire a Content
Manager for our web sites. No doubt, many of you have already emailed or spoken with Elaine. We're hugely grateful to have her on board, and know you'll all love working with her as much as we do. She just arrived last month, and already
she's knee deep in Google gadgets (oops, did we let that slip) and CAD conversion tools. If your project makes it's way to the home page of the
Open Architecture Network, well, now you know who to thank! Welcome Elaine!
Joyce Engebretsen - Operations Manager
Joyce Engebretsen is also new to our team this month. Joyce is coming on board as our Operations Manager. Joyce is a registered professional engineer and was formerly the Director of Operations for Hinman Consulting Engineers, where she
started her structural engineering career nine years ago. Joyce is also a Board Member of Blue Space, a storefront gallery space in San Francisco's Mission District that promotes community through neighborhood-based art and food programs.
Barb Alvarado - Deputy Development Director
Just imaging Barb's to do list would scare-off most folks. Barb Alvarado has joined as Deputy Development Director. She's involved in everything from planning events to tracking donations to developing programs. Barb moved from Wisconsin
to join Architecture for Humanity after completing her degree in Architecture and working in the field end domestic violence with a local nonprofit. We're excited to have her with us and we think she's excited to have a winter outside of
Wisconsin!
John Dwyer - New Orleans Design Fellow
After many months work in New Orleans first with the Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association and then working with families directly,
John Dwyer will be leaving us as design fellow. We cannot say enough about the wonderful work that John has done and the difference he has made to dozens of families. See some of his
design work for families on the Road Home in New Orleans. Thank you, John!
Presidio School of Management Strategy Team
For the past several months, Architecture for Humanity has enjoyed working with a dedicated team of Sustainable MBA students from the Presidio School of Management (run by the awesome Hunter Lovins) who have undertaken the herculean task
of developing a long-term strategy for Architecture for Humanity. Suffice it to say, they are a bunch of smarty pants. Thank you to Adam Cornelius, Ben Hester, Michelle Mullineaux, Kate Randolph, and Sheila Samuelson for thinking big with
us these last few months.
We also have a number of design fellows and volunteers with us this month. Huge thanks to Yes Duffy, Anna Hallgrimsdottir, Stacy Jed, Iheanyi Ngumezi, Joe Payne, Susanna Pho, Alejandra Reyes, Michael Steiner, Tiffany Zhang, CCA
second-year students and all of the many volunteers who have taken part of the redesign of our new office. As always big hugs to all our in the field design fellows and to Laura and Natasha at Galloway Media Group and Thao at CAA.
Get Involved
Architecture for Humanity: Co-Lab
They say naming is creating. We're half way through the designing our new shared office space. It's now got a name. The Co-Lab. Curious? We know you are.
Take a look at the project updates on the Open Archtiecture Network. Huge thanks to all those who have sacrificed their wednesday night to make this happen. More (pizza and beer) to come....
Learn more |
Get involved
CS2 Anyone?
If anyone has a copy of CS2 for Windows that they might willing to *donate* to Architecture for Humanity we'd be HUGELY grateful. Turns out they don't sell CS2 version for PC's and CS3 is not backward compatible...but, yep, you guessed it
the rest of our team is on CS2 for Mac. Sigh. Have a spare copy?
Email us. |
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Support Good Design
Help us provide 365 days of professional pro bono design services around the world---one day at a time---by donating
one day's worth of your salary.
On the Network:
Project:
Nato High School
Architect: George Edwin Tolosa, AIA
Location: Sagnay, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Project:
Play Around for Space Unbound
Architect: Drexel University Design Charrette - Team 4
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Project:
Las Hormigas Women's Cooperative Kitchen
Project Lead: Alfred von Bachmayr
Location: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Project:
Lenin Nagar Boat Piers
Design Team: Rebecca Celis, Malea Jochim, Purnima McCutcheon
Location: Lenin Nagar and Poondiyakuppam, Tamil Nadu, India
Project:
Missionary Centre in DR Congo
Architect: Katja Lavriša, Janez Koželj
Location: Goma, Africa, Congo
Arbor Day nod
Project:
WHITELANDS Wood TreeHouse 2008
Architect: David Yearley & Mary Weguelin in co-ordination with STUDIO 2
Location: Hampshire, United Kingdom
Support the Open Architecture Network
2007 Annual Report
For more information on our work and for full financial reporting, download our
2007 Annual Report (PDF, 1.4MB).
All comments, suggestions (and spontaneous donations) should be sent to:
staff(at)architectureforhumanity(dot)org
Architecture for Humanity
t: 415.963.3511
848 Folsom, Suite 201
San Francisco, CA
94107-1173, USA
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Opportunities
Design Fellowships: UNICEF Child Friendly Schools
Location:Ganta, Liberia
Type: Volunteer Opportunity
Architecture for Humanity in partnership with UNICEF is seeking a structural engineer and project architect to provide pro bono design services as part of a truly innovative program in post-conflict border areas of Western Africa. The
program will involve building two prototype facilities, a primary school and a secondary school, that incorporate the guidelines of UNICEF's Child Friendly School approach. Working in partnership with local communities and the ministry of
education, each school will include innovative learning environments as well as alternative energy sources, water reclamation, connectivity, basic services, and play spaces.
The goal: to support peace building by designing world class schools that inspire a love of learning and create a sense of harmony between the school, the surrounding community and the environment. Design Fellows will work on site
in Ganta, Liberia. Living stipend and travel costs provided.
Project Architect
Structural Engineer
Interested? Please email a resume, digital work samples (PDF) and any links to projects on the Open Architecture Network to Joyce Engebretsen at
jobs@architectureforhumanity.org.
Web Manager
Location: San Francisco, CA
Type: Staff Position
Architecture for Humanity is looking for a Web Manager who will be responsible for maintaining the Open Architecture Network (www.openarchitecturenetwork.org) as well as (www.architectureforhumanity.org) and our chapter web sites. This
includes updating content, overseeing the development of applications, and ensuring design standards are met. The ideal candidate will have love architecture and will possess strong hands-on production skills and management experience.
Interested? Please email a resume and references to Kate Stohr at
jobs@architectureforhumanity.org
May Events
May 1-3, evening
shh, it's a secret but something is in the air
Meatpacking district, New York
May 7, 5pm
Design cage-match with Joshua Prince-Ramus/REX, James Powderly/Graffitti Research Lab and Kerl Yoo, IARC
Seoul Digital Forum
Seoul, South Korea
May 7, 7.30pm
Panel with UN-Habitat and 'Design Without Borders'
Oslo Architects Association, Oslo, Norway
May 8,
Lunchtime lecture by co-founder Kate Stohr
National Academy of Art, Oslo, Norway
May 8, 8.20pm:
Pecha Kucha Oslo #6, Oslo, Norway
May 10
Pangea Day Global film festival: 4 hours, 24 films
Visit
www.pangeaday.org for a location near you.
Live in the Bay Area?
Join us at for a screening at Architecture For Humanity HQ
848 Folsom Street #201, San Francisco, CA
May 15-16
Latin American Leadership Summit
Quito, Ecuador
May 17
Haute Green - Panel
ICFF, location tbd, New York, NY
May 18, 2pm to 4pm
Amazon Chocolate party @
Lulan Artisans - yup, hand-carried from Ecuador!
Booth 1938, ICFF, Jacob Javits Center, New York, NY
May 19, 4:20pm to 5pm
Make Good and Proper -
Metropolis Magazine Symposium
prior speakers include Fritz Haeg, Yves Behar and our Project H office mate Emily Pilloton
ICFF, Jacob Javits Center, New York, NY
May 21, 6pm
Architecture for Humanity Talk -
Talalay Lecture Series
Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Deadline May 30
Bart Harvey Fellowship, Enterprise Community Partners announces a newly created, two-year fellowship.
More Events
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Architecture for Humanity is building a more sustainable future by bringing professional design services to communities in need. We believe that where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and
collaborative design can improve lives. |
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staff@architectureforhumanity.org • Architecture for Humanity |
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