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People in Ukraine are using 3D modeling tech to preserve cultural heritage sites — before they risk being destroyed by the Russian invasion.
The project, called Backup Ukraine, was organized by smartphone camera capture app Polycam, which partnered with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Vice Media Group, Danish non-profit Blue Shield Danmark, Ukraine’s Heritage Emergency Rescue Initiative, and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine.
— Futurism
Ukrainians’ makeshift efforts to hastily secure and protect vital sites across their country have become increasingly important given Russia’s well-documented pursuit of a Total War concept which has put civilian centers under the crosshairs with damage to residential infrastructure and... View full entry
Award-winning architect and designer, Suman Sorg, FAIA, founder of Sorg Architects, has formed the non-profit design firm, A Complete Unknown, in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to promote social justice, peace, and unity through architecture and design. "At this stage in my career, I have... View full entry
RISE International, a U.S. self-funded non-profit organization, is raising $100,000 to design and build an "Enterprise Hub" for unemployed youth in Lesotho, South Africa. The new facility will house up to 100 young entrepreneurs at a time and will be designed and built by local talent as part of... View full entry
O’Herlihy’s “same old stuff” is, in actuality, bringing plenty of fresh thinking to the issue of density at a time in which Los Angeles is building up instead of out — a time when changes in zoning, especially along transit lines, is adding more condos and apartments to the skyline, transforming the landscape of single family homes for which the city is known.
Over the last 15 years, LOHA has made a name for itself by working on projects that make innovative use of tight urban spaces.
— latimes.com
Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (LOHA) has been designing spaces for 24 years with an array of projects ranging from residential complexes to bus stations. Rather than creating luxury living, the firm has chosen to focus on affordable housing, dormitory, and non profit projects. Dormitory building... View full entry
AERIAL FUTURES, a non-profit think tank exploring innovation in the architecture of flight, have created a new film titled Urban Constellations looking at the relationship between a city and its airports. Using NYC as a case study, this video asks how fragmented pieces of infrastructure can be... View full entry
Sallam noted that the average stay in a refugee camp is 17 years, and many displaced people live in makeshift dwellings such as airplane hangars. They may have shelter, but it’s not “shelter with dignity,”
Design elements [of the Hex House] include 12-foot ceilings, which give the impression of roominess within the cozy space. Designed to function “off the grid,” [it] also has solar panels, and it’s raised slightly to protect against flooding and to provide some passive cooling, Sallam said.
— Finance & Commerce
The Minneapolis-based Architects for Society, a small non-profit group of mid-career architects from around the world, designed the Hex House to find better solutions for providing deployable emergency shelter for people displaced by natural or manmade disasters. The 500-square-foot Hex House is... View full entry
A big obstacle to attracting new recruits is the stigma around working in the public sector. There remains a widely-held stereotype that planning departments are the realm of dusty, tweed-jacketed types, nested in their booths for the last half century. Williams says that when he started at Croydon, a colleague pitied him, assuming he had ended up there because he couldn’t get a job in an architecture practice. — The Guardian
With the explosion of STARCHITECTS collecting major commission after major commission in the same manner children collect toys, a young office in London, Public Practice, has found a niche all to their own — one who's historical stigma only expanded Public Practice's potential and... View full entry
As many recent surveys have noted, the design world has been slow to incorporate people from historically under-represented communities into its ranks, particularly in leadership positions. While a variety of causes lead to this, and greater efforts are required to address it, we are committed to using our resources to contribute to and catalyze that change in design. — Center for Urban Pedagogy
At a time when inclusion is as crucial as ever in the architecture community and beyond, the non-profit Center for Urban Pedagogy in Brooklyn is encouraging designers from historically under-represented communities in the design profession to apply to their inaugural Change in Design Fellowship... View full entry
Whatever the outcome, we will learn from their actions. I am confident that those who committed wrongdoing will be held accountable, and that any malfeasance will come to light. I am also confident that the final story will adequately celebrate all the good that AFH did. — medium.com
Garrett Jacobs, executive director of the Open Architecture Collaborative, responded to the $3M lawsuit against AFH via a statement on medium, taking care to make clear as crystal the fact that while OAC grew out of AFH, it is "unequivocally an independent organization, a California LLC and Public... View full entry
The founders and board members of Architecture for Humanity (AFH), the influential and accoladed non-profit organization, is being sued for $3M for alleged mismanagement of funds, according to an exclusive report published by Architectural Record. The report helps shed light on the circumstances... View full entry
This case study looks at the origins of, and factors that led to, the “death” of the best-known humanitarian architecture organization in the world.
However, it will also reveal that AFH is regenerating via its worldwide network of chapters, which it had begun developing around 2004, and which gathered more formally under the name Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network upon AFH’s closure.
— nonprofitquarterly.org
To get caught up on Architecture for Humanity's history as a non-profit:Architecture for Humanity begins crowdsourced rebranding campaignArchitecture for Humanity to file for bankruptcyArchitecture for Humanity to shut downCameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, co-founders of Architecture for Humanity... View full entry
The non-profit group GreenWave, which won the prestigious 2015 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, is gaining attention for designing reportedly the world's first 3D multi-species ocean farms. Much like the group's marine-oriented initiatives, the ocean farm project aims to restore ocean ecosystems and... View full entry
Music venue National Sawdust, formerly OMW workshop, slated to open this fall, hopes to revive, even temporarily, the thrill of ‘90s and early 2000’s Williamsburg, a time when anything felt possible and artistic collaboration ruled supreme. The [13,000 sq.foot] space will offer a rare outlet for musicians of lesser appreciated art forms, from opera to experimental jazz, the opportunity to study, practice, perform, and receive mentorship through an in-venue, non-profit program. — GOOD
Fresh faces for new spaces. Non-profit arts group National Sawdust collaborated with architect Peter Zuspan — founding principal (and classically trained opera singer) of local emerging practice Bureau V — in designing the group's upcoming music performance space. While Brooklyn has become a... View full entry
In a letter to "the countless volunteers, supporters, design fellows, and former staff of Architecture for Humanity", Board Chair Matt Charney announced that the organization will file for bankruptcy this week. AfH closed somewhat abruptly this past January. Charney's letter states:I thank you... View full entry
We've just heard from Cameron Sinclair, co-founder and ex-director of Architecture for Humanity, that the organization has "pivoted its mission and is planning to close".According to John King at the SF Chronicle, "While there has been no official announcement of the organization’s demise, all... View full entry