I go to loads of events, conferences and talks, and although I always have the best intentions I very rarely get round to writing up my notes for you to enjoy. This time however the talk I went to this evening was so amazing it would be wrong not to share! The event was at the RSA to honour Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of the truly incredible Architecture for Humanity, with the RSA 2009 Bicentenary Medal.
I’ve been a fan of the non-profit design organization for a while now, ever since I learned about their tsunami relief project (thanks to Design Museum’s Designer of the Year competition) and love getting their newsletters and wishing I was clever enough to enter their design competitions, but this was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to see Sinclair in action – and I think I love him!
The video gives you a pretty good overview of the way the organization works, and is definitely worth watching – but it was the content of his talk that was even more powerful. Here are my jumbled notes, I hope they make some sense and give a bit of an insight what was a truly eye-opening and inspirational hour it was, and I highly recommend you watch the video when it’s up on the RSA site (probably in a week or so)
- Architecture for Humanity has helped somewhere between 750,000 and 1 million people so far
- It is a decentralised network of people using their architectural skills to make a difference – 72 local chapters 5383 volunteers – they were surprised to find that the majority are licensed architects (67%) [ie not students], 62% are female, average age is 32 years, 15% are British, and there’s a 50/50 split between those from developed and developing countries
- Aftermath of Katrina was ‘criminal neglect from US government’
- ‘don’t just be the change – be the bank’ – allow people access to funds directly
Lots of the African Americans in New Orleans owned their houses outright (had been passed down through generations) so didn’t have mortgage = didn’t have credit rating, so got nothing to rebuild
- A4H created a library of skills for/ with residents – swapping practical skills – invisible economy coming up to help each other. They found that lots of architects were turning up just to get involved and help rebuild the community
- if you don’t build it it doesn’t exist – you can’t just design it you have to build it
- One graphic design student converted 70 pages of government policy into a one page visualisation – this was so powerful for the government A4H managed to force change in policy
- Needed to create homes to be sustainable – to help the families afford the insurance and the energy bills- being sustainable as a way to create equity
- There are 4bn people in emerging middle class – spending money on healthcare, improving homes and education
- In this century we’re going to double the number of structures on this earth - it’s pretty exciting time to be an architect
- Creative commons architectural ideas – 21000 people involved so far
- A4H ran a competition to design a classroom for the future – connecting with local schools – teachers and students being part of the design team – creating site specific ideas. 1000 teams entered from 65 nations, 250 schools got new designs
- some recent projects: Skatistan, Plastiki, The Homeless World Cup in Brazil
- some brilliant points:
- It’s better to be the tugboat than the oiltanker – we can move much faster with the ebb and flow
- It’s better to have 5billion clients than 50
- Culture is an aspect of sustainability – everything is local – people interpret religion, community in diff ways
- A strong society creates strong economy
- There is no such thing as the 3rd world
- Your client is your design expert
- Ethics is aesthetics
- We build communities not destinations
- Instigate the no asshole policy – don’t work with them, don’t take money from them, don’t hire them
Filed under: collaborative working, creative ideas, good , architecture, community, consumption, design, social mission
