Mastering behavioral master planning: inside The Global Studio

2015-10-08T17:07:00-04:00

For his master's architecture thesis, Geoff Piper proposed reorganizing a Kenyan village with an estimated 70% HIV infection rate so that instead of being isolated in their post-colonial individual land plots, people would regularly cross paths. "There was a funeral every few days," Piper explains, "because for people living in these separate plots, it wasn't easy to grasp the extent of the [HIV] problem." By reorganizing the village to create more frequent public meetings, Piper hoped to raise awareness and stop the spread of the disease. A little over a decade later, Piper is now one of the six principal members of The Global Studio, a collaborative design-build organization that teams with non-profits to master plan settlements around the world. The Global Studio's expertise isn't just technical: it's the rare and difficult art of working successfully with people, whether it's the particular culture of non-profits, tenant farmers, or savvy village teens.

"We're willing and try ver...

Glen Small Buildings Demolished in Nicaragua

2014-05-09T21:08:00-04:00

“I never heard anybody say it was ugly or weird, I had reached universal beauty and Rosario Murillo sadistically destroyed that beauty. How sad and senseless.” - Glen Small

Concha Acústica (demolished this week)

Glen Small designed iconic "Concha Acústica" in Managua is demolished by the orders of an interior decorator, Rosario Murillo, who designs with nature in the form of yellow painted tree cut-outs framing the portraits of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in uniform. She is also the wife of the Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega.

Concha Acustica was the largest of Glen Small's three public monument projects and the second one demolished. They were commissioned by late Managua Mayor Herty Lewites who was running for Nicaraguan presidency against Daniel Ortega. He unexpectedly died in a 'massive heart attack" in a hospital, shortly before the elections in 2006. He was widely popular and trailing Mr. Ortega with a small margin.

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Mastering behavioral master planning: inside The Global Studio

Glen Small Buildings Demolished in Nicaragua